Preclinical models of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease in which pigmented midbrain neurons progressively die producing a dopamine (DA) deficit in the striatum which manifests as an akinetic movement disorder. Experimentally induced striatal DA depletion in animals is a valid model of parkinsonism. The capacity of certain substances to damage catecholaminergic neurones has been used for a long time to produce DA deficiency in animals. This unit focuses on methods for inducing parkinsonism using the neurotoxins MPTP and 6-hydroxy dopamine and methods for evaluating the animals. Other models are briefly reviewed.