MPTP: insights into the etiology of Parkinson's disease.

MPTP-induced parkinsonism in humans faithfully replicates the clinical features of Parkinson's disease, including physical findings, response to therapy and even complications of therapy. Further, the neuropathological picture in experimental animals appears to be drawing much closer to that seen in the idiopathic disease, particularly in the light of recent findings showing involvement of the locus ceruleus as well as the substantia nigra, and the presence of eosinophilic inclusion bodies. It is suggested that the more closely the MPTP model comes to reproducing Parkinson's disease, the more valuable it may be in exploring the etiology of the disease. MPTP could provide insights into mechanisms underlying neuronal degeneration in the substantia nigra and other areas of the brain in Parkinson's disease, and has already set in motion a renewed search for possible environmental causes of the disease.