Hematological disorders in 6-hydroxydopamine-induced rat model of Parkinson’s disease

Objective: The present work was undertaken in order to investigate the effects of right-unilateral lesion of substantia nigra neurons by means of 6- hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), a dopaminergic-selective neurotoxin, on hematological parameters in rats. The primary reason for the using of rat model of Parkinson’s disease was the interest regarding the role of the central dopaminergic system in hematopoiesis regulation because some neurological diseases like Parkinson’s disease are well-correlated with anemia associated with autonomic dysfunction in rats.Material and Methods: Thirty male Wistar rats weighing 200 ± 50 g at the start of the experiment were used. The substantia nigra was right-unilateral lesioned by stereotaxic microinjections of 8 micrograms (free base) 6-OHDA, dissolved in 4 μl physiological saline containing 0.1% ascorbic acid, administered through the Hamilton microsyringe over 4.50 minutes. 7 days after neurosurgery, we assessed the total number of white blood cells (WBC), the total number of red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin level and the erythrocyte indexes (mean cell volume, MCV and mean cell hemoglobin, MCH).Hematological parameters were assayed by a COULTER Ac T 5diff CP-precision instruments for hematology research.Results: 6-OHDA treatment induced a significantly decrease of white blood cells (p<0.03), red blood cells (p<0.01), hemoglobin level (p<0.02) comparative with sham-operated rats. By contrast, in the 6-OHDA-lesioned rats the erythrocyte indexes (mean cell volume, MCV (p<0.04); mean cell hemoglobin, MCH (p<0.01)) were significantly enhanced comparative with sham-operated rats.Conclusion: On the whole, the obtained data indicate the important role of the central dopaminergic system in the regulation of erythrocyte dynamics.