Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor impairments such as bradykinesia and rigidity, and non-motor deficits including anxiety. These phenomena are closely associated with underlying pathological processes including oxidative stress(OS) and mitochondrial dysfunction that arise from the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Recent studies have shown that flavonoids like quercetin have neuroprotective effects through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of quercetin on motor function, anxiety-like behaviors, and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in hippocampal dentate gyrus tissue in a rat model of PD induced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and examine the behavioral findings with the use of two doses (10 and 25mg/kg) of quercetin. Forty male Wistar rats were divided into five groups: control, sham, Parkinson's, and two quercetin-treated PD groups (10 and 25mg/kg), and 6-OHDA (8μg/3μl) was injected into the left medial forebrain bundle (MFB) in three of them to induce PD. The behavioral assessments evaluated motor function and anxiety-like behaviors, including apomorphine-induced rotation, rotarod, wire hanging, elevated plus maze, and open field tests. Our results indicate that quercetin treatment significantly reduced apomorphine-induced rotations, supporting the results of rotarod and wire hanging tests, improved motor coordination, with the 25mg/kg dose showing greater efficacy. Quercetin also alleviated anxiety-like behaviors in a dose-dependent manner based on the results of the elevated plus maze and open field tests. In addition, the results showed a significant elevation of IL-6 in the hippocampus of PD rats compared to the control group, and quercetin treatment can reduce its levels, though the levels remained higher than in the sham and control groups. These findings suggest that quercetin ameliorates both motor and anxiety-like deficits in a 6-OHDA rat model of Parkinson's disease, potentially through modulation of hippocampal neuro-inflammation, highlighting its promise as a multi-target therapeutic agent in PD.

Keywords: Anxiety, IL-6; Medial forebrain bundle; Motor impairment; Parkinson’s disease; Quercetin.

Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier B.V.

帕金森病（PD）是一种进行性神经退行性疾病，其特征是运动功能障碍如运动迟缓和肌张力增高以及包括焦虑在内的非运动缺陷。这些现象与黑质多巴胺能神经元退化引发的氧化应激(OS) 和线粒体功能障碍等潜在病理过程密切相关。近期研究表明，类黄酮如槲皮素通过抗氧化和抗炎作用具有神经保护效果。在这项研究中，我们旨在评估槲皮素对帕金森病大鼠模型（由6-羟基多巴胺(6-OHDA)诱导）的运动功能、类似焦虑的行为以及海马齿状回组织中白细胞介素-6 (IL-6) 水平的影响，并使用两种剂量（10和25mg/kg）的槲皮素来考察行为结果。实验共用40只雄性Wistar大鼠，分为五组：对照组、假手术组、帕金森病组以及两个不同剂量的槲皮素治疗的帕金森病组(10和25mg/kg)，并在这三组中向左脑中脑束(MFB)注入6-OHDA（8μg/3μl）以诱导帕金森病。行为评估包括运动功能及类似焦虑的行为，如阿朴吗啡诱发的旋转、转棒测试、悬吊实验、高架十字迷宫和开放式场测试。我们的结果显示，槲皮素治疗显著减少了阿朴吗啡诱发的旋转次数，并支持了转棒和悬吊实验的结果，改善了运动协调性，25mg/kg剂量显示出更高的功效。此外，根据高架十字迷宫和开放式场测试结果，槲皮素还以剂量依赖的方式缓解了类似焦虑的行为。另外，结果显示与对照组相比，PD大鼠海马中的IL-6水平显著升高，并且槲皮素治疗可以降低该水平，尽管仍高于假手术组和对照组的水平。这些发现表明，槲皮素在由6-OHDA诱导的大鼠帕金森病模型中可改善运动功能及类似焦虑的缺陷，可能通过调节海马神经炎症发挥作用，突显了其作为PD多靶点治疗剂的潜力。

关键词：焦虑；IL-6；中脑束；运动障碍；帕金森病；槲皮素。

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