A New Tool to Study Parkinsonism in the Context of Aging: MPTP Intoxication in a Natural Model of Multimorbidity

Autor: Lorena Cuenca-Bermejo, Elisa Pizzichini, Valeria C. Gonçalves, María Guillén-Díaz, Elena Aguilar-Moñino, Consuelo Sánchez-Rodrigo, Ana-María González-Cuello, Emiliano Fernández-Villalba, María Trinidad Herrero
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol 22, Iss 9, p 4341 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1422-0067
1661-6596
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22094341
Popis: The diurnal rodent Octodon degus (O. degus) is considered an attractive natural model for Alzheimer’s disease and other human age-related features. However, it has not been explored so far if the O. degus could be used as a model to study Parkinson’s disease. To test this idea, 10 adult male O. degus were divided into control group and MPTP-intoxicated animals. Motor condition and cognition were examined. Dopaminergic degeneration was studied in the ventral mesencephalon and in the striatum. Neuroinflammation was also evaluated in the ventral mesencephalon, in the striatum and in the dorsal hippocampus. MPTP animals showed significant alterations in motor activity and in visuospatial memory. Postmortem analysis revealed a significant decrease in the number of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral mesencephalon of MPTP animals, although no differences were found in their striatal terminals. We observed a significant increase in neuroinflammatory responses in the mesencephalon, in the striatum and in the hippocampus of MPTP-intoxicated animals. Additionally, changes in the subcellular expression of the calcium-binding protein S100β were found in the astrocytes in the nigrostriatal pathway. These findings prove for the first time that O. degus are sensitive to MPTP intoxication and, therefore, is a suitable model for experimental Parkinsonism in the context of aging.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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