Objective      To evaluate the effect of pVAX1-IL-4/SYN-B DNA vaccines on the expression of neurotrophic factors in the striatum of mice with chronic Parkinson’s disease (PD) induced with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1

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6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP).       Methods      C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into normal control group

blank plasmid group

PBS group

and DNA vaccine group (n=12 for each group). The anterior tibial muscles of the mice hind leg were injected with PBS

empty plasmid

PBS

and pVAX1-IL4/SYN-B

respectively. Then the chronic PD mice were built by intraperitoneal injection of MPTP

while the normal control group was injected with the same volume of PBS. The behavior changes of the mice were observed. The expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the striatum of mice was detected by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry

and the expression of glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the striatum was detected by Western blotting.       Results      Compared with the PBS group or blank plasmid group

the DNA vaccine group showed improved motor symptoms (P0.05)

reduced TH loss (P0.05)

and increased expression of GDNF and BDNF (P0.05).       Conclusion      The pVAX1-IL-4/SYN-B DNA vaccine shows neuroprotective effect in MPTP-induced chronic PD mice by enhancing the expression of neurotrophic factors GDNF and BDNF in the striatum.