RESEARCH February 24, 2022
Plant product shows promise in mouse model of Parkinson’s Disease
(SACRAMENTO)
health.ucdavis.edu/coronavi...
professor bruce hammock
youtube.com/watch?v=3R4Nhr5...
a natural product from the dried root of a pea-family plant, combined with an enzyme inhibitor discovered in the laboratory of Professor Bruce Hammock, may provide hope in alleviating neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s disease. A team of researchers from UC Davis and Dalian Medical University, China, announced the findings Feb. 21 in the Proceedings of the National of Academy of Sciences.
The team found that a soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitor combined with kurarinone, a compound from the dried root of Sophora flavescens, reduced neuroinflammation in an animal model with Parkinson’s disease. The dried root, also known as kushen, has been used for hundreds of years in traditional Chinese medicines.
Sophora flavescens (Wikimedia commons)
Sophora flavescens (Wikimedia commons)
“Traditional Chinese medicines play an immeasurable role in the treatment of all kinds of diseases,” said lead researcher Cheng-Peng Sun, a Dalian Medical University professor who is partnering with the Hammock lab. For the past 35 years, Hammock, a distinguished professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, has researched enzyme inhibitors that dramatically reduce inflammation, inflammatory pain and neuropathic pain.
“We investigated the neuroprotective effects of S. flavescens in Parkinson’s disease based on the neuroinflammation,” Sun said. “Our extensive studies indicated that kurarinone possesses several pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities.”