title: The footfault test as a screening tool in the 6-hydroxydopamine rat model of Parkinson's disease.
abstract: The administration of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the nigrostriatal pathway is a rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD). The footfault test is a behavioural task in which rodents have their motor functions assessed. Here, we observed that unilaterally 6-OHDA-lesioned animals show a context-induced ipsilateral rotational behaviour when placed on the footfault apparatus for 3 min and this may be used as index to detect lesioned animals. Our results showed a sensitivity and specificity of 100% for lesions higher than 94% and 64%, respectively (ROC curve: AUC=0.988). A binary logistic regression model showed an expB=1.116 (95% CI, 1.007-1.236) and C=-9.081+/-4.554 (p=0.046) using the nigral tyrosine hidroxylase immunocontent as standard (each unit represents a 10%-lesion extension). Additionally, the footfault test was more sensitive than apomorphine challenging at 1mg/kg when these tests were carried out days apart and it was less sensitive than methylphenidate at 40 mg/kg (sign test, p<0.05). Therefore, the footfault test may be very useful in the PD animal model for screening animals since it is fast and simple and it does not require a drug to induce rotational activity.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Neurociências - ICBS, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Sarmento Leite, 500, Sala 107, CEP 90.046-900, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roberta Bristot
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Silvestrin
authors.forename: Lucas Fürstenau
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Cristiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Batassini
authors.forename: Alcyr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Tadeu Mello
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: e Souza
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D001525:Behavioral Sciences / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004298:Dopamine / Q000096:biosynthesis; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D005684:Gait / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D009480:Neuropharmacology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D016627:Oxidopamine / Q000633:toxicity*; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D013565:Sympatholytics / Q000633:toxicity; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D013565:Sympatholytics; D016627:Oxidopamine; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D004298:Dopamine