A comparative study about EPA-PL and EPA-EE on ameliorating behavioral deficits in MPTP-induced mice with Parkinson's disease by suppressing oxidative stress and apoptosis

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) enriched phospholipids (EPA-PL) are widely distributed in marine products. It has been reported that the protective effects of the mixture of EPA and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on Parkinson's disease (PD), however, it is hard to confirm the improvement of EPA alone on PD. In the present study, EPA-PL was extracted from the sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) to compare the effects of EPA-PL and commercial EPA in the form of ethyl ester (EPA-EE) on PD mice induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). Results showed that dietary EPA-PL instead of EPA-EE notably improved MPTP-induced behavioral deficiency. Further research showed that EPA-PL suppressed MPTP-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis, thereby alleviating the loss of dopaminergic neurons via mitochondria - mediated pathway and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. These findings firstly confirmed that EPA-PL could improve MPTP-induced symptoms and pathology of PD, providing a reference for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.