Objective: To investigate behavioral and cellular changes in the brain of a Drosophila melanogaster model of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) exposed to yerba mate [YM] extract.

Background: The consumption of YM have been inversely associated with incidence of PD in two independent epidemiological studies (Gatto et al 2015, Medeiros et al. 2021) while YM extract provides strong survival of dopaminergic neurons in primary cultures (Bernardi et al. 2019). YM shares several active compounds with coffee and green tea extracts.

Method: We have used the fly model of PD that expresses human alpha synuclein (aSyn) to evaluate behavioral (geotaxis and locomotion), synaptic formation (GRASP: GFP Reconstitution Across Synaptic Partners) and gene expression of key molecular markers of cell metabolism by qRT-PCR.

Results: We observed a decrease in the amounts of aSyn by western blot in flies treated with YM as well as increased neuronal connectivity between circadian and dopaminergic neurons in aged wild-type flies treated with YM determined by GRASP. In addition we found that YM regulates the expression of key markers of cell metabolism related with neuronal health and survival, remarkably AMPK and its downstream pathway.

Conclusion: Our results provide first insights into neuronal changes that take place upon exposition with YM suggesting that it improves synaptic connection as well as regulation of cell energy and metabolism. Moreover, in vivo experiments showed that regular feeding with YM can decrease the amounts of aSyn in this PD fly model. Further work is still necessary to fulfil our hypothesis, but current results provide insights about how diet can may modulate neuronal health and therefore impacting in the natural history of neurodegenerative pathologies such as Parkinson’s Disease.

References: Gatto EM, Melcon C, Parisi VL, Bartoloni L, Gonzalez CD. Inverse association between yerba mate consumption and idiopathic Parkinson's disease. A case-control study. J Neurol Sci. 2015 Sep 15;356(1-2):163-7.
Bernardi A, Ballestero P, Schenk M, Ferrario M, Gómez G, Rivero R, Avale E, Taravini I, Gershanik O, Guerrero S, Ferrario JE. Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) favors survival and
growth of dopaminergic neurons in culture. Mov Disord. 2019 Jun;34(6):920-922.
Medeiros MS, Schumacher-Schuh AF, Altmann V, Rieder CRM. A Case-Control Study of the Effects of Chimarrão (Ilex paraguariensis) and Coffee on Parkinson's Disease Front Neurol. 2021 Mar 10;12:619535.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/understanding-the-neuroprotective-mechanism-of-ilex-paraguariensis-yerba-mate-in-a-drosophila-melanogaster-alpha-synuclein-model-of-parkinsons-disease/