Rasagiline ameliorates olfactory deficits in an alpha-synuclein mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

Autor: Géraldine H Petit, Elijahu Berkovich, Mark Hickery, Pekka Kallunki, Karina Fog, Cheryl Fitzer-Attas, Patrik Brundin
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2013
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 4, p e60691 (2013)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060691
Popis: Impaired olfaction is an early pre-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease. The neuropathology underlying olfactory dysfunction in Parkinson's disease is unknown, however α-synuclein accumulation/aggregation and altered neurogenesis might play a role. We characterized olfactory deficits in a transgenic mouse model of Parkinson's disease expressing human wild-type α-synuclein under the control of the mouse α-synuclein promoter. Preliminary clinical observations suggest that rasagiline, a monoamine oxidase-B inhibitor, improves olfaction in Parkinson's disease. We therefore examined whether rasagiline ameliorates olfactory deficits in this Parkinson's disease model and investigated the role of olfactory bulb neurogenesis. α-Synuclein mice were progressively impaired in their ability to detect odors, to discriminate between odors, and exhibited alterations in short-term olfactory memory. Rasagiline treatment rescued odor detection and odor discrimination abilities. However, rasagiline did not affect short-term olfactory memory. Finally, olfactory changes were not coupled to alterations in olfactory bulb neurogenesis. We conclude that rasagiline reverses select olfactory deficits in a transgenic mouse model of Parkinson's disease. The findings correlate with preliminary clinical observations suggesting that rasagiline ameliorates olfactory deficits in Parkinson's disease.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals