Curcumin-Activated Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Human Umbilical Cord and Their Effects on MPTP-Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease: A New Biological Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease

Figure 5

Detection of DA, NADPH-d, and apoptosis-related factors in the CS of PD mice. (a) DA levels were very low in the model and F12 groups compared with normal mice (), whereas the DA level was obviously increased in the hUC-MSC and hUC-MSCs-CUR groups (). DA concentration in the MSC-CUR group was higher than that in the MSC group () (one-way analysis of variance, Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test, , , ). (b, c) NADPH-d expression in the model and F12 groups was increased compared with the normal group (). In contrast, the levels of NADPH-d were significantly decreased in the MSC and MSC-CUR groups (; ). Obviously, the level of NADPH-d in the MSC-CUR group was significantly lower than that in the MSC group (). (d, e) Compared with normal mice, the model and F12 groups showed significantly reduced Bcl-2 expression in the CS, while the expression of Bax and caspase 3 was markedly upregulated (). In the MSC and MSC-CUR groups, Bcl-2 expression was upregulated, while the expression of Bax and caspase 3 was downregulated ( vs. the model and F12 groups), especially in the MSC-CUR group (, vs. the MSC group; two-way analysis of variance, Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test). All experiments were performed thrice. Protein was extracted from the brain tissues of five mice (control , the other groups , one-way analysis of variance, , , ).

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