Abstract
Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor function. The etiology of PD is unknown and routine therapies temporarily relieve the symptoms. Neuroprotective based therapies preserve the remaining neurons and prevent the progression of PD. Artemisia sieberi has anti-cancer and neuroprotective effects. The CoQ10 also is an antioxidant that has proven anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In order to study the effect of Artemisia and CoQ10 on the PD cellular model, the present research was designed. Methods: PC12 cells were treated with different concentrations of 6-hydroxydopamine. Then the cells divided into the control (cells were not treated), DMSO group and experimental groups treated with the different concentrations of Artemisia sieberi extracts, CoQ10 and combination of them for 24h. The viability of the cells, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and p53 expression were evaluated. Results: Artemisia at a concentration of 200μg/ml and CoQ10 at a concentration of 75μg/ml significantly increased cell viability in the treated groups after 24h. Their combination showed better and more significant results compared to each alone. Hoechst staining showed significantly reduced apoptosis in treated cells. ROS generation reduced in the treated groups with better results for the combination-treated groups. The same results acquired for the expression of P53 in the treated cells. Conclusion: Regarding the results of both Artemisia and CoQ10, it could be concluded that they act synergistically with possible similar pathways. Although the Artemisia itself showed significant results, it seems that the combination method might have more therapeutic effects.