Objective To explore the treatment and anti-oxidation mechanism of total alkaloids from Pinellia ternate (TAPT) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) rat models.MethodsThe rat model of Parkinson’s disease was established by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the rat brain. TAPT was given to the model rats to observe its preventive effect. The behavioral changes of the PD rats were tested with Morris water maze. Chemical assay was used to measure the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and glutathione (GSH) contents in the cerebral cortex and serum. ResultsCompared with the normal group, the escape latency of the PD rats was significantly longer (P<0.01), the number of platform crossing significantly reduced (P<0.01). After TAPT treatment, the escape latency of PD rats was significantly shorter (P<0.05, P<0.01), and the number of platform crossing was significantly increased (P<0.01). In the Parkinson model group, the MDA and H₂O₂ contents were increased, the SOD and GSH levels in serum and cerebral cortex were significantly decreased (both P<0.01), the MDA and H₂O₂ contents were significantly reduced (P<0.01), and the GSH and SOD levels in the cerebral cortex were significantly increased (P<0.01). The serum MDA levels in the low concentration and middle concentration TAPT treatment groups were not significantly changed (P> 0.05), but significantly decreased in the high concentration TAPT treatment group (P<0.01). The serum H₂O₂ in the treatment groups was significantly decreased (P<0.01), and serum GSH contents in the treatment groups significantly increased (P<0.01). ConclusionsTAPT treatment show improving effect on learning and memory in PD rats, and may play a role against the degeneration in the rat nervous system, possibly through changes in the cortical and serum SOD, GSH levels, while inhibit of MDA and H₂O₂ generated in the rats with Parkinson''s disease. 