On chorea: possible neuronal mechanisms.
The mechanism of generation of choreic movements is a rather difficult issue to be elucidated, chiefly due to the lack of a good animal model. Recently we have succeeded to reproduce choreic movements in monkey by using kainic acid lesion of the striatum and the administration of L-dopa. Based on the morphological and biochemical findings of monkey brains, we proposed the hypothesis for the mechanism of choreic movements to be the presynaptic "activation" of the nigro-striatal dopaminergic pathways rather than the postsynaptic dopaminergic receptors in the striatum. This hypothesis coincide well with the clinical and clinico-pharmacological experience in Huntington's disease. The possible mechanisms of the dopaminergic "activation" are discussed.
Kanazawa
I
I
Department of Neurology, University of Tokyo, Japan.
D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008251:Macaca; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000503:physiopathology; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000502:physiology
D004745:Enkephalins; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D004298:Dopamine