title: Animal models of neurodegenerative diseases.
abstract: The prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), increases with age, and the number of affected patients is expected to increase worldwide in the next decades. Accurately understanding the etiopathogenic mechanisms of these diseases is a crucial step for developing disease-modifying drugs able to preclude their emergence or at least slow their progression. Animal models contribute to increase the knowledge on the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. These models reproduce different aspects of a given disease, as well as the histopathological lesions and its main symptoms. The purpose of this review is to present the main animal models for AD, PD, and Huntington's disease.
authors.affiliation: Neurobiochemistry Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo HorizonteMG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabíola Mara
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Elizabeth Ribeiro da Silva
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Camargos
authors.forename: Leonardo Cruz
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: Antonio Lucio
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Teixeira
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology