Remedies from the natural world

An article caught my eye this week as several comments received on this blog and in clinic relate to ‘natural’ remedies for Parkinson’s. To provide some background, my therapeutic philosophy is a common one: I will only prescribe or endorse treatments that have gone through robust, unbiased, reproducible testing, and where the benefits outweight the risks. I also believe that there are undoubtedly treatments that have the power to radically alter diseases that are under our noses in the natural world, and once they are identified, purified and tested, will revolutionise medicine. Exenatide is a perfect example: originally derived from the saliva of the Gila monster, this is now a powerful drug against diabetes and may even have the ability to halt or slow Parkinson’s. 

This article looks at whether blackberry juice can reduce levodopa-induced dyskinesia. The first thing to point out was that they didn’t test it in humans with Parkinson’s disease, this experiment involved the MPTP mouse model of Parkinson’s. Mice were given the same amount of levodopa and then different groups were given increasing doses of blackberry juice. The good news is that there was some benefit on the extra movements associated with ‘dopamine overdose’. However, this was mainly seen in the 15mL/kg group. To put this into a human context (assuming that it works as well in humans with Parkinson’s as mice with MPTP induced parkinsonism, which is a very  big assumption, a human would have to drink over a litre of pure blackberry juice per day to have less dyskinesia. 

Science is a journey of increments. These positive results may yield a useful weapon for people with Parkinson’s, but plenty of work needs to be done. I highly recommend blackberries, especially ones forraged on a nice walk in the woods, but I wouldn’t suggest they’re going to make your Parkinson’s better just yet.

RNR

Effects of blackberry (Morus nigra) fruit juice on levodopa-induced dyskinesia in a mice model of Parkinson's disease.

Fahimi Z¹, Jahromy MH¹.

J Exp Pharmacol. 2018 Jul 4;10:29-35. doi: 10.2147/JEP.S161782. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: 

Levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) is a movement disorder that occurs due to levodopa consumption for a long period to attenuate Parkinsonism. Plants have been the basis for medical treatments in human history and still widely practiced. Blackberry (Morus nigra) is one of the fruits rich in anthocyanin. The present study examined the effect of blackberry fruit juice on LID in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced Parkinson's disease in mice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 

In this study, 42 male mice were used, which were divided into six groups equally: one control group and five groups receiving MPTP injection. After confirmation of Parkinsonism in MPTP groups, one group was preserved without treatment and four other groups were treated with levodopa (50 mg/kg ip). After the onset of LID (2 weeks), one group was kept without additional treatment and three other groups were treated with three different doses of blackberry fruit juice (5, 10, and 15 mL/kg) with levodopa orally for 7 days. Abnormal involuntary movement scale (AIMS) and cylinder behavioral test were carried out according to the schedule. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS software with the significant level of P<0.05.

RESULTS: 

Parkinson's disease was confirmed with AIMS test on the fourth day after MPTP injection. The onset of LID was observed after 2 weeks of levodopa treatment using both behavioral tests. The result of administration of M. nigra fruit juice for 1 week showed that this addition is useful in hindering LID. These effects were more pronounced at doses 10 and 15 mL/kg with nearly the same results on attenuating AIMS. Low dose of the fruit juice does not seem to affect LID significantly.

CONCLUSION: 

M. nigra fruit juice is effective to attenuate LID in an MPTP-induced Parkinson mice model.