Parkinson's Animal Model (CAT#: STEM-AE-0027-WXH)

Introduction

Parkinson's disease is a chronic disease of the central nervous system that affects the patient's ability to move, and it mostly occurs in middle-aged and older people. The main manifestations of the disease in the early stage include resting tremor, muscle rigidity, slow movement, difficulty in starting movements, and abnormal posture. The main pathological change of Parkinson's disease is the degeneration and death of dopamine (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra of the midbrain, which leads to a significant decrease in the content of DA in the striatum and causes the disease.
Two of the most widely used animal models of Parkinson's disease are the chemically induced 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) rat. Both MPTP and 6-OHDA are neurotoxic and are substrates for the dopamine transporter (DAT). They cause disruption of mitochondrial complexes involved in oxidative phosphorylation, alongside an increase in reactive oxidative species and ultimately nigral cell death.