Do animal's get Parkinson's?

I don't mean: can PD-like symptoms be induced in animals? What I mean is can animals living their lives normally get Parkinson's?

Given that Parkinson's strikes late and relatively slowly in humans, it might only rarely hit animals before they die of other causes. For instance, an animal that never survived beyond 30, say, would, assuming the human age-related incidence rates applied, have a very small chance of having noticeable PD.

Has there been any post-mortem work on the brain's of animals to see if they have any pre-clinical signs of the disease? e.g. neuronal loss in certain areas, lewy bodies, other alpha-synuclein aggregation.

Do animals have alpha-synuclein?

Tag johnt:alpha-synuclein

John

A paper by a team in France answers some of the questions posed by this thread:

- alpha-synuclein is found in animals;

- although lewy bodies are not mentioned, "granular deposits" of alpha-synuclein are found in diseased animals.

Adjou et al. report [1]:

"Immunohistochemical examination demonstrated widespread granular deposits of alpha-synuclein (alpha SN) in the brains of sheep and goats with natural scrapie, ... The results suggest that perturbation of alpha SN metabolism plays a role in human and animal prion diseases."

Tag johnt:alpha-synuclein

Reference:

[1] "Alpha-synuclein accumulates in the brain of scrapie-affected sheep and goats"
Adjou, K. T.; Allix, S.; Ouidja, M. O.; Backer, S.; Couquet, C.; Cornuejols, M. J.; Deslys, J. P.; Brugere, H.; Brugere-Picoux, J.; El-Hachimi, K. H.
Journal of Comparative Pathology 137(1): 78-81, 2007
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17544436

John

This condition is afflicting certain breads of dogs and it looks like it has some similarities to PD. The use of prednisone to treat it is interesting as there were some reports in this forum on the use of prednisone by PD members.

"The generalized head and body tremors can range in severity from mild to incapacitating and tend to worsen with exercise, stress or excitement and lessen or resolve with sleep. Other neurologic signs (deficit in menace, nystagmus) may be present, but are not always noticed. Screening for infectious agents is generally negative. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis often reveals a mild lymphocytic pleocytosis, but may also be normal. Histologic exam of the CNS tissue of affected animals varies. A mild, non-suppurative meningoencephalitis with mild perivascular cuffing, most evident in the cerebellum, may be identified, but normal CNS tissue can also be found. The underlying disease process is still unknown. Some speculate that the tremors are due to an immune reaction targeted against the tyrosine producing cells. Tyrosine is important in the production of melanin as well as the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine. An imbalance of these neurotransmitters may lead to the clinical signs observed; however, variation in the pathologic changes identified in tissues suggests that inflammation is not the only mechanism involved in the pathogenesis. Diagnosing a white shaker dog is one of exclusion and response to treatment. These dogs respond to an immunosuppressive dose of cortico-steroids (prednisone). "

https://www.addl.purdue.edu/newslett...ng/tremors.htm

Good question, John!

To my knowledge, animals do not get PD. It has been noted that it does not occur among domesticated animals ie. pets the exception being cows, goats, sheep,and deer. They get forms of prion disease, which IMO, is the 4 legged version of PD.

Prion disease is caused by misfolded proteins. Scientists do not know what causes it. An intriguing and convincing theory is here by a citizen scientist / farmer Mark Purdey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Purdey

http://www.sfgate.com/health/article...as-3654204.php


Also, interesting to note that PD cannot be replicated in lab animals. An acute loss of dopamine can be induced with some symptoms but the state stabilizes, no degeneration occurs. This says to me the cause of PD is different from the neurodegeneration. This also says how much we need more than animal models of disease for study.

Laura