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Mesolimbic dopaminergic neurones in the rotational model of nigrostriatal function

Nature volume 263, pages 695–696 (1976)Cite this article

Abstract

AT least some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease are believed to result from the degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurones which normally innervate the striatum. Parkinsonian patients have an abnormally low concentration of dopamine in this region of the basal ganglia1,2, and parkinsonian symptoms can be alleviated by the dopamine precursor L-dopa3. A quantitative animal model which has proved useful in assessing the potential therapeutic value of drugs in the treatment of parkinsonism was described some years ago by Ungerstedt and Arbuthnott4. Rats, in which the nigrostriatal pathway has been destroyed unilaterally by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), were shown to rotate towards the lesioned side when injected with drugs, such as amphetamine, which release dopamine from neurones in the brain, and towards the unlesioned side when injected with L-dopa and dopamine agonists5,6. This contralateral rotation has been attributed to supersensitivity of the denervated striatal dopamine receptors5,6.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824

    P. H. KELLY & K. E. MOORE

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  1. P. H. KELLY
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KELLY, P., MOORE, K. Mesolimbic dopaminergic neurones in the rotational model of nigrostriatal function. Nature 263, 695–696 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/263695a0

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