title: Experimental autoimmune nigral damage in guinea pigs.
abstract: An animal model of experimental autoimmune nigral damage (EAND) has been developed in guinea pigs by immunization with hybrid dopaminergic cells (MES 23.5). In such animals, loss of 40% of the substantia nigra (SN) neurons and damage to an additional 10% of SN neurons was associated with a 37-43% decrease of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity and a 36% decrease of dopamine (DA) content in the nigral-striatum. Eight of the thirteen animals developed significant hypokinesia. The EAND model suggests that degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in SN can be caused by immune-mediated processes, which may help our understanding of the pathogenesis in Parkinson's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Le
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Appel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity; D002460:Cell Line; D004298:Dopamine / Q000032:analysis; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000737:chemistry; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000737:chemistry; D007114:Immunization; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000276:immunology*; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000473:pathology*; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D004298:Dopamine