Reserpine administration results in a predictable animal model of
orofacial dyskinesia (OD) that has been largely used to access movement disturbances related to extrapyramidal oxidative damage. Here, OD was acutely induced by
reserpine (two doses of 0.7 mg/kg subcutaneous (s.c.)), every other day for 3 days), which was administered after (experiment 1) and before (experiment 2)
magnesium (Mg) supplementation (40 mg/kg/mL, peroral (p.o.)). In experiment 1, Mg was administered for 28 days before
reserpine treatment, while in experiment 2, it was initiated 24 h after the last
reserpine administration and was maintained for 10 consecutive days. Experiment 1 (prevention) showed that Mg supplementation was able to prevent
reserpine-induced OD and
catalepsy development. Mg was also able to prevent reactive species (RS) generation, thus preventing increase of
protein carbonyl (PC) levels in both cortex and substantia nigra, but not in striatum. Experiment 2 (reversion) showed that Mg was able to decrease OD and
catalepsy at all times assessed. In addition, Mg was able to decrease RS generation, with lower levels of PC in both cortex and striatum, but not in substantia nigra. These outcomes indicate that Mg is an important
metal that should be present in the diet, since its intake is able to prevent and minimize the development of
movement disorders closely related to oxidative damage in the extrapyramidal brain areas, such as OD.