title: Comparison of bilaterally 6-OHDA- and MPTP-lesioned rats as models of the early phase of Parkinson's disease: histological, neurochemical, motor and memory alterations.
abstract: This study compares histological, neurochemical, behavioral, motor and cognitive alterations as well as mortality of two models of Parkinson's disease in which 100 microg 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) or 6 microg 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) was bilaterally infused into the central region of the substantia nigra, compact part, of adult male Wistar rats. Both neurotoxins caused a significant loss of nigral tyrosine hydroxylase-immunostained cells and striatal dopamine depletion, but 6-OHDA caused more widespread and intense cell loss, more intense body weight loss and more mortality than MPTP. Both 6-OHDA- and MPTP-lesioned rats presented similar deficits in performing a working memory and a cued version of the Morris water maze task and few exploratory/motor alterations in the open field and catalepsy tests. However, rats presented a significant and transitory increase in locomotor activity after the MPTP lesion and a hypolocomotor behavior tended to be present after the 6-OHDA lesion. The picture of mild motor effects and robust impairment of habit learning and spatial working memory observed in MPTP-lesioned rats models the early phase of Parkinson's disease.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo Machado
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.forename: Maria Ines
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Bellissimo
authors.forename: Janete Aparecida
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Anselmo-Franci
authors.forename: Miriam Elizabeth Mendes
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Angellucci
authors.forename: Newton Sabino
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Canteras
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Da Cunha
mesh_terms: D015632:1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine; D018663:Adrenergic Agents; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D016627:Oxidopamine; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018663:Adrenergic Agents; D016627:Oxidopamine; D015632:1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine