Convulsive and postural effects of lesioning the mid-substantia nigra pars reticulata in naïve and 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rats.
The subthalamic nucleus is targeted for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Unilateral lesions improve some aspects of parkinsonism but produce postural abnormalities in animal models but the exact pathways producing these effects remain to be defined. Using a battery of tests we evaluated the effects of lesioning one of the two major subthalamic targets, the substantia nigra pars reticulata in naïve and 6-OHDA lesioned rats. Lesions targeting the mid-substantia nigra pars reticulata resulted in acute tonic-clonic seizures and intense contralateral rotational asymmetry. During the first month after substantia nigra pars reticulata lesions there was normalisation of the ipsilateral head position bias induced by unilateral 6-OHDA lesions, significant contralateral body axis bias but no significant alteration of apomorphine induced rotation and sensorimotor neglect in 6-OHDA lesioned rats. Combined with our previous data, this suggests that subthalamic projections via the substantia nigra pars reticulata are important in seizures and postural behaviours. Therefore unilateral subthalamotomy probably induces postural deficits in hemiparkinsonian animals via projections involving the substantia nigra pars reticulata. This has implications for patients undergoing subthalamotomy for treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute and University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. jasmine@med.usyd.edu.au
Jasmine M
JM
Henderson
Sophie H
SH
Watson
D000818:Animals; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000494:pharmacology; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D003344:Cortical Synchronization; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D007608:Kainic Acid; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D016627:Oxidopamine; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D010468:Perceptual Disorders; D011187:Posture; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012399:Rotation; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D016627:Oxidopamine; D001058:Apomorphine; D007608:Kainic Acid