1. Ann Neurol. 1985 Nov;18(5):544-51.

Stress-induced neurological impairments in an animal model of parkinsonism.

Snyder AM, Stricker EM, Zigmond MJ.

Adult rats were given the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-HDA) by means of
cerebrospinal fluid to produce large dopamine-depleting brain lesions. Although
the animals behaved normally in their home cages, they became akinetic after such
treatments as glucoprivation, tail shock, and exposure to severe cold. The
neurological impairments were related both to the extent of dopamine depletion
and to the intensity of the stress. Drugs known to enhance dopaminergic function
were found to reverse the stress-induced neurological deficits, while
dopaminergic antagonists potentiated the debilitating effects of stress. After
focal lesions were produced by injecting 6-hydroxydopamine directly into specific
brain regions, stress-induced akinesia was found to correlate best with dopamine
depletion in the corpus striatum, especially the lateral portion of that
structure. These and other findings suggest that the acute emergence of
parkinsonian symptoms during stress may reflect extensive damage to the
dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway that had been concealed in a preclinical
phase, owing to compensatory neurochemical changes in the dopaminergic neurons
that yet remain intact.


PMID: 3935041 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]