Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
48
pubmed:dateCreated
2004-12-2
pubmed:abstractText
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a movement disorder characterized by the selective degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. Both familial and sporadic cases present tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement, and postural instability. Although major insights into the genes responsible for some rare hereditary cases have arisen, the etiology of sporadic cases remains unknown. Epidemiological studies have suggested an association with environmental toxins, mainly mitochondrial complex I inhibitors such as the widely used pesticide rotenone. In recent years, Drosophila melanogaster has been used as a model of several neurodegenerative diseases, including a genetic model of PD. Here, we studied the neurodegenerative and behavioral effects of a sublethal chronic exposure to rotenone in Drosophila. After several days, the treated flies presented characteristic locomotor impairments that increased with the dose of rotenone. Immunocytochemistry analysis demonstrated a dramatic and selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in all of the brain clusters. The addition of l-dopa (3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine) into the feeding medium rescued the behavioral deficits but not neuronal death, as is the case in human PD patients. In contrast, the antioxidant melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) alleviated both symptomatic impairment and neuronal loss, supporting the idea that this agent may be beneficial in the treatment of PD. Therefore, chronic exposure to pesticides recapitulates key aspects of PD in Drosophila and provides a new in vivo model for studying the mechanisms of dopaminergic neurodegeneration.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Dec
pubmed:issn
1529-2401
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
1
pubmed:volume
24
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
10993-8
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Antioxidants, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Apoptosis, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Brain, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Cell Count, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Dopamine, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Dopamine Agonists, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Drosophila melanogaster, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Electron Transport Complex I, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Insecticides, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Levodopa, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Locomotion, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Melatonin, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Nerve Degeneration, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Neurons, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Oxidative Stress, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Parkinsonian Disorders, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Phenotype, pubmed-meshheading:15574749-Rotenone
pubmed:year
2004
pubmed:articleTitle
Chronic exposure to rotenone models sporadic Parkinson's disease in Drosophila melanogaster.
pubmed:affiliation
Laboratoire de Génétique et Physiologie du Développement, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UniversitédelaMéditerranée, Developmental Biology Institute of Marseille, Campus de Luminy, F-13288 Marseille Cedex 9, France.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't