Progress of Research on Animal Models of Parkinson's disease

Animal models are important tools in experimental medical science to better understand pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease(PD).Over the years,a broad variety of experimental models of PD were developed and applied in diverse species,including models caused by reserpine,methamphetamine 6-hydroxydopamine,1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine.Recently,it has been found that rotenone,administered systemically,can produce specific features of PD in rodents.Transgenic animals that over-express α-synuclein are used to study the role of this protein in dopaminergic degeneration.Among these models,the 6-hydroxydopamine rat PD model and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine primate PD model are the most often used because of the similar pathological changes and behavior features to those in PD patients.