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Embryonic ventral mesencephalic grafts improve levodopa-induced dyskinesia in a rat model of Parkinson's disease

Lee, Chong S. ; Cenci, M. Angela LU orcid ; Schulzer, Michael and Björklund, Anders LU orcid (2000) In Brain 123(7). p.1365-1379
Abstract

We investigated the role of dopamine neurons in the manifestation of levodopa-induced dyskinesia in a rat model of Parkinson's disease. Daily treatment with a subthreshold dose of levodopa gradually induced abnormal involuntary movements (AIM) in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats, which included stereotypy and contraversive rotation. After 4 weeks of levodopa treatment, rats with mild and severe AIM were assigned to two treatment subgroups. The graft subgroup received embryonic ventral mesencephalic tissue into the striatum, whilst the sham-graft subgroup received vehicle only. Rats continued to receive levodopa treatment for 3 months post-graft. Brain sections at the level of the basal ganglia were processed for autoradiography using a... (More)

We investigated the role of dopamine neurons in the manifestation of levodopa-induced dyskinesia in a rat model of Parkinson's disease. Daily treatment with a subthreshold dose of levodopa gradually induced abnormal involuntary movements (AIM) in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats, which included stereotypy and contraversive rotation. After 4 weeks of levodopa treatment, rats with mild and severe AIM were assigned to two treatment subgroups. The graft subgroup received embryonic ventral mesencephalic tissue into the striatum, whilst the sham-graft subgroup received vehicle only. Rats continued to receive levodopa treatment for 3 months post-graft. Brain sections at the level of the basal ganglia were processed for autoradiography using a ligand for dopamine transporter, and in situ hybridization histochemistry for mRNAs encoding postsynaptic markers. Levodopa-induced AIM significantly improved in grafted rats. The severity of AIM correlated inversely with the density of dopamine nerve terminals in the striatum (P < 0.001), with almost no AIM when the density of dopamine nerve terminals was > 10-20% of normal. Embryonic dopamine neuronal grafts normalized not only mRNA expression for preproenkephalin (PPE) in the indirect pathway, but also mRNA expression for prodynorphin (PDyn) in the direct pathway, which was upregulated by levodopa treatment. AIM scores correlated linearly with expression of PPE mRNA in the indirect pathway (P < 0.001) and also with PDyn mRNA in the direct pathway (P < 0.001). We conclude that embryonic dopamine neuronal grafts may improve levodopa-induced dyskinesia by restoring altered activities of postsynaptic neurons, resulting not only from dopamine denervation, but also from levodopa therapy, provided that the density of striatal dopaminergic nerve terminals is restored above a 'threshold' level.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
6-OHDA, Embryonic dopamine neuronal graft, Levodopa-induced dyskinesia, Parkinson's disease
in
Brain
volume
123
issue
7
pages
15 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:0033932460
  • pmid:10869049
ISSN
0006-8950
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a931c010-7ab7-4d37-964a-4a2a9171ac2a
date added to LUP
2017-04-24 13:15:42
date last changed
2024-06-09 15:13:23
@article{a931c010-7ab7-4d37-964a-4a2a9171ac2a,
  abstract     = {{<p>We investigated the role of dopamine neurons in the manifestation of levodopa-induced dyskinesia in a rat model of Parkinson's disease. Daily treatment with a subthreshold dose of levodopa gradually induced abnormal involuntary movements (AIM) in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats, which included stereotypy and contraversive rotation. After 4 weeks of levodopa treatment, rats with mild and severe AIM were assigned to two treatment subgroups. The graft subgroup received embryonic ventral mesencephalic tissue into the striatum, whilst the sham-graft subgroup received vehicle only. Rats continued to receive levodopa treatment for 3 months post-graft. Brain sections at the level of the basal ganglia were processed for autoradiography using a ligand for dopamine transporter, and in situ hybridization histochemistry for mRNAs encoding postsynaptic markers. Levodopa-induced AIM significantly improved in grafted rats. The severity of AIM correlated inversely with the density of dopamine nerve terminals in the striatum (P &lt; 0.001), with almost no AIM when the density of dopamine nerve terminals was &gt; 10-20% of normal. Embryonic dopamine neuronal grafts normalized not only mRNA expression for preproenkephalin (PPE) in the indirect pathway, but also mRNA expression for prodynorphin (PDyn) in the direct pathway, which was upregulated by levodopa treatment. AIM scores correlated linearly with expression of PPE mRNA in the indirect pathway (P &lt; 0.001) and also with PDyn mRNA in the direct pathway (P &lt; 0.001). We conclude that embryonic dopamine neuronal grafts may improve levodopa-induced dyskinesia by restoring altered activities of postsynaptic neurons, resulting not only from dopamine denervation, but also from levodopa therapy, provided that the density of striatal dopaminergic nerve terminals is restored above a 'threshold' level.</p>}},
  author       = {{Lee, Chong S. and Cenci, M. Angela and Schulzer, Michael and Björklund, Anders}},
  issn         = {{0006-8950}},
  keywords     = {{6-OHDA; Embryonic dopamine neuronal graft; Levodopa-induced dyskinesia; Parkinson's disease}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{1365--1379}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Brain}},
  title        = {{Embryonic ventral mesencephalic grafts improve levodopa-induced dyskinesia in a rat model of Parkinson's disease}},
  volume       = {{123}},
  year         = {{2000}},
}