Pharmacodynamic Mechanisms of Cicadae Periostracum in Parkinson’s Disease: A Metabolomics-Based Study

Cicadae Periostracum (CP) is a traditional Chinese animal-derived medicine with the potential to treat Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aims to explore the pharmacodynamic mechanisms of CP against PD-based on metabolomics technology and provide a theoretical basis for developing new anti-PD medicine. First, MPP⁺-induced SH-SY5Y cells were used to evaluate the anti-PD activity of CP. In the animal study, an MPTP-induced PD mouse model was employed to assess CP's therapeutic effects. Immunofluorescence (IF) staining and Western blotting (WB) were used to evaluate its neuroprotective activity on neurons. A Serum metabolomics analysis was conducted to examine CP's regulatory effects on metabolites and to identify vital metabolic pathways. Finally, cellular experiments were performed to validate the critical pathways. Cellular activity experiments demonstrated that CP mitigates MPP⁺-induced SH-SY5Y cytotoxicity, inhibits apoptosis, and restores mitochondrial homeostasis. Animal experiments revealed that CP significantly alleviates dyskinesia in PD mice, enhances motor performance, and restores neuronal integrity while reducing α-synuclein (α-syn) aggregation in the striatum (STR), showing its strong anti-PD effect. Metabolomic analysis revealed that CP can significantly improve the metabolic disorders of ten biomarkers that are mainly involved in amino acid metabolism and fatty acid β-oxidation and are closely related to oxidative stress pathways. Finally, pathway verification was performed, and the results show that CP exerted neuroprotective effects against PD through the dual signaling pathways of Bcl-2/Bax/Caspase-3 and Nrf2/HO-1. This study provides a comprehensive strategy for elucidating the mechanisms by which CP exerts its therapeutic effects against PD, highlighting its potential in developing anti-PD drugs.