Animal models of Parkinson's disease
PD is not known to occur naturally in any species other than humans,
although animal models which show some features of the disease are used
in research. The appearance of parkinsonian symptoms in a group of drug
addicts in the early 1980s who consumed a contaminated batch of the
synthetic opiate MPPP led to the discovery of the chemical MPTP as an
agent that causes a parkinsonian syndrome in non-human primates as well
as in humans. Other predominant toxin-based models employ the
insecticide rotenone, the herbicide paraquat and the fungicide maneb.
Models based on toxins are most commonly used in primates. Transgenic
rodent models that replicate various aspects of PD have been developed.
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