Back to Search
Start Over
Selective cholinergic depletion of pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus aggravates freezing of gait in parkinsonian rats.
- Source :
-
Neuroscience letters [Neurosci Lett] 2017 Oct 17; Vol. 659, pp. 92-98. Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 Aug 10. - Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Many patients of advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) suffer from intractable axial symptoms (severe gait and postural impairments), which were recently speculated to be more relevant to cholinergic degeneration in the brainstem than dopaminergic degeneration in the substantia nigra compacta (SNc). To investigate the role of the cholinergic cells of the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) on motor deficits, especially the axial motor impairments, we measured and analyzed the gait performance of sham lesion rats, SNc dopaminergic lesion rats, PPTg cholinergic lesion rats, and combined lesion rats by using the CatWalk system. Motor performance of PPTg cholinergic lesion rats was also tested on the rotarod. Independent loss of cholinergic neurons in the PPTg did not induce gait disturbance in CatWalk, but PPTg lesion rats showed motor impairments on the rotarod when the demands of the motor task increased. Both SNc lesion rats and combined lesion rats displayed significant changes in many gait parameters, but the terminal dual stance increased much higher in combined lesion group than SNc lesion group. Furthermore, combined lesion rats showed more severe freezing of gait (FOG) than SNc lesion rats during behavioral re-evaluations after lesion. These results suggest that the PPTg cholinergic neurons play a vital role in the occurrence of FOG in PD.<br /> (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.)
- Subjects :
- Animals
Choline O-Acetyltransferase immunology
Dopamine metabolism
Immunotoxins immunology
Immunotoxins pharmacology
Male
Motor Disorders chemically induced
Motor Disorders complications
Oxidopamine pharmacology
Parkinson Disease complications
Pars Compacta drug effects
Pars Compacta metabolism
Rats
Rotarod Performance Test
Acetylcholine metabolism
Cholinergic Neurons drug effects
Gait drug effects
Parkinson Disease metabolism
Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus drug effects
Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus metabolism
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1872-7972
- Volume :
- 659
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Neuroscience letters
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 28803956
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2017.08.016