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Effects of Quercetin on the Severity of Chemically Induced Convulsions and 70-kDal Heat Shock Protein Content in Brain Structures in Rats

Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology volume 41, Article number: 680 (2011) Cite this article

Behavioral methods were used to study the effects of the 70-kDal heat shock protein (Hsp70) expression inhibitor quercetin on convulsions and motor disorders evoked by N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (N-methyl- D-aspartate (NMDA)) or corazol in adult Wistar rats. These experiments showed that intraperitoneal administration of quercetin 4 h before microinjection of NMDA into the third ventricle of the brain increased the duration of the toxic component of convulsive seizures and the severity of convulsions and ataxic symptoms. The same dose and route of quercetin increased the duration of clonic and tonic convulsions but did not alter the severity of convulsive seizures or ataxia symptoms induced by intraperitoneal injection of corazol. Immunoblotting studies showed that administration of quercetin decreased the content of the inducible form of Hsp70 in the hippocampus, thalamus, and corpus callosum. These data provide evidence that the Hsp70 expression inhibitor quercetin has anticonvulsant properties. It is suggested that Hsp70 has a role in the central mechanisms regulating behavioral convulsions and motor disorders induced by NMDA and corazol in rats.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. I. M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44 M. Torez Prospekt, 194223, St. Petersburg, Russia

    L. E. Nitsinskaya, I. V. Ekimova & Yu. F. Pastukhov

  2. Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 4 Tikhoretskii Prospekt, 194064, St. Petersburg, Russia

    I. V. Guzhova

  3. Dagestan State University, 43-a Gadzhiev Street, 367000, Makhachkala, Russia

    B. A. Feizulaev

Authors
  1. L. E. Nitsinskaya
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  2. I. V. Ekimova
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  3. I. V. Guzhova
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  4. B. A. Feizulaev
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  5. Yu. F. Pastukhov
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Correspondence to L. E. Nitsinskaya.

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Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 96, No. 3, pp. 283–292, March, 2010.

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Nitsinskaya, L.E., Ekimova, I.V., Guzhova, I.V. et al. Effects of Quercetin on the Severity of Chemically Induced Convulsions and 70-kDal Heat Shock Protein Content in Brain Structures in Rats. Neurosci Behav Physi 41, 680 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-011-9472-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-011-9472-z

Keywords

  • heat shock protein 70
  • convulsions
  • NMDA
  • corazol
  • quercetin
  • rats