title: Unexpected toxicity of very low dose MPTP in mice: A clue to the etiology of Parkinson's disease?
abstract: Although much progress have been made in recent years, the etiology of idiopathic Parkinson's disease remains obscure. The chance discovery that injection of the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) induces a syndrome very similar to parkinsonism introduced the "environmental toxin" hypothesis but no toxin was ever found in any quantity in patients' brains. We have unexpectedly now found, however, that, in mice, very low doses of MPTP induce as much dopaminergic neuronal death as far higher doses. Cellular detoxification mechanisms would appear to be incapacitated at such low doses. This could infer that the barely discernible presence of an unidentified neurotoxin may be responsible for the onset of Parkinson's disease.
authors.affiliation: Univ. De Bordeaux, Institut Des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Bordeaux, France.|Institut Des Maladies Neurodégénératives, CNRS, Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dovero
authors.affiliation: Univ. De Bordeaux, Institut Des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Bordeaux, France.|Institut Des Maladies Neurodégénératives, CNRS, Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Univ. De Bordeaux, Institut Des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Bordeaux, France.|Institut Des Maladies Neurodégénératives, CNRS, Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Erwan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bezard
mesh_terms: D015632:1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D020267:MPTP Poisoning / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D015632:1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine
keywords: MPTP; Parkinson's disease; aetiology; cellular detoxification; mouse; toxin hypothesis