THE EFFECT OF L-TYROSINE, VITAMINS E AND C ON PERPHENAZINE-INDUCED CATATONIA IN RAT

Catatonia is one of the major signs of parkinson’s disease which is due to impaired dopamine in extrapyrmidal system. This study was performed to elucidate the role of L-tyrosine, vitamin E and vitamin C on perphenazine-induced catatonia in model of rat. Eight groups of rats were pretreated orally by a single dose of L-tyrosine (1500 mg/kg), vitamin E (250 mg/kg), vitamin C (300 mg/kg), vitamin E plus vitamin C, vitamin E plus L-tyrosine, vitamin C plus L-tyrosine, vitamins E and C plus L-tyrosine and normal saline (control group) for two weeks, respectively. One hour after the last dose, perphenazine (5 mg/kg) was administered (IP) to induce catatonia. Muscular rigidity of animals was determined by scoring method of Morpurgo. The results of this study indicate that L-tyrosine plus vitamins E and C could reduce the perphenazine-induced muscular rigidity better than other groups.