Meloxicam ameliorates motor dysfunction and dopaminergic neurodegeneration by maintaining Akt-signaling in a mouse Parkinson's disease model.

Abstract A series of oxicam non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been shown to be neuroprotective against 1-methyl-4-phenyl pyridinium in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells via the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway independent of cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition. The present study endeavored to establish this novel effect of meloxicam (MLX), an oxicam NSAID, in a mouse Parkinson's disease (PD) model using 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). Male C57BL/6 mice, which received MPTP (30 mg/kg/day; s.c.) for 5 consecutive days (chronic model) with 10-day follow-up saline administrations, showed significant motor dysfunction in the pole test due to reduced tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) protein levels in the brain on day 16 after MPTP/saline treatment. Daily coadministrations of MLX (10 mg/kg/day; i.p.) and MPTP for the first 5 days and follow-up 10 days with MLX administrations alone (MPTP/MLX treatment) significantly ameliorated MPTP-induced behavioral abnormalities in mice. Concomitant decreases of TH protein levels in the striatum and midbrain of MPTP/MLX-treated mice were not only significantly ( p p p