Animal models of Parkinson's disease: An empirical comparison with the phenomenology of the disease in man

Summary Animal models are an important aid in experimental medical science because they enable one to study the pathogenetic mechanisms and the therapeutic principles of treating the functional disturbances (symptoms) of human diseases. Once the causative mechanism is understood, animal models are also helpful in the development of therapeutic approaches exploiting this understanding. On the basis of experimental and clinical findings. Parkinson's disease (PD) became the first neurological disease to be treated palliatively by neurotransmitter replacement therapy.The pathological hallmark of PD is a specific degeneration of nigral and other pigmented brainstem nuclei, with a characteristic inclusion, the Lewy body, in remaining nerve cells. There is now a lot of evidence that degeneration of the dopaminergic nigral neurones and the resulting striatal dopamine-deficiency syndrome are responsible for its classic motor symptoms akinesia and bradykinesia. PD is one of many human diseases which do not appear to have spontaneously arisen in animals. The characteristic features of the disease can however be more or less faithfully imitated in animals through the administration of various neurotoxic agents and drugs disturbing the dopaminergic neurotransmission.The cause of chronic nigral cell death in PD and the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. The partial elucidation of the processes underlie the selective action of neurotoxic substances such as 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) or 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), has however revealed possible molecular mechanisms that give rise to neuronal death. Accordingly, hypotheses concerning the mechanisms of these neurotoxines have been related to the pathogenesis of nigral cell death in PD.The present contribution starts out by describing some of the clinical, pathological and neurochemical phenomena of PD. The currently most important animal models (e.g. the reserpine model, neuroleptic-induced catalepsy, tremor models, experimentally-induced degeneration of nigro-striatal dopaminergic neurons with 6-OHDA, methamphetamine, MPTP, MPP⁺, tetrahydroisoquinolines, -carbolines, and iron) critically reviewed next, and are compared with the characteristic features of the disease in man.     

噻诺啡对小鼠甲基苯丙胺行为敏化的影响

目的:探讨新型阿片受体部分激动剂-噻诺啡对小鼠甲基苯丙胺行为敏化过程的影响。方法:测定小鼠的自主活动,观察噻诺啡对小鼠的自主活动及急性甲基苯丙胺处理所致小鼠活动增强效应的影响。小鼠腹泻注射甲基苯丙胺2mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1),连续7d,建立甲基苯丙胺诱导的小鼠行为敏化模型,观察噻诺啡对小鼠行为敏化的影响。结果:单次皮下注射噻诺啡(0.0625～1.0mg·kg~(-1))可剂量依赖性地抑制小鼠的自主活动(P<0.05),连续给药7d,噻诺啡对小鼠自主活动的抑制作用不产生敏化,而耐受。噻诺啡对急性甲基苯丙胺处理所致小鼠的高活动性无明显影响。噻诺啡对甲基苯丙胺诱导的小鼠行为敏化的形成和表达无显著作用,但可剂量依赖性地抑制敏化的转化(P<0.05或P<0.01)。结论:噻诺啡对中枢神经系统具有抑制作用,并且可以阻止甲基苯丙胺诱导小鼠产生行为敏化的转化过程,提示噻诺啡可能对甲基苯丙胺的成瘾行为具有一定的干预作用。     

归元片对小鼠甲基苯丙胺行为敏化的影响

目的:探讨中药复方制剂归元片对甲基苯丙胺行为敏化的影响.方法:测定小鼠的自主活动,观察归元片对小鼠自主活动及甲基苯丙胺急性活动增强效应的影响.小鼠慢性甲基苯丙胺处理,建立甲基苯丙胺诱导的行为敏化小鼠模型,观察归元片对甲基苯丙胺行为敏化获得和表达的影响.结果:归元片呈剂量依赖性降低小鼠的活动性,对甲基苯丙胺的急性高活动效应有抑制作用.归元片阻断小鼠甲基苯丙胺行为敏化的获得和表达.结论:归元片对中枢神经系统功能具有抑制作用,能抑制甲基苯丙胺行为敏化的获得和表达,提示归元片能抑制甲基苯丙胺的奖赏效应,可能对防治甲基苯丙胺的滥用和成瘾有效.     

The persistence of illicit drug smoke residues and their recovery from common household surfaces

Third‐hand smoke is the residue remaining on surfaces during smoking events. It is composed of particles and vapours that form upon heating. The phrase ‘third‐hand smoke’ is primarily used to describe nicotine and other chemicals from cigarettes, but any residues formed from the smoking of various substances could be classified similarly. There has been an increasing body of research on third‐hand smoke from cigarettes in the last decade, but little has been done in regards to understanding the persistence of particles and vapours from illicit drugs. In this work, small samples of cocaine and methamphetamine were volatilized to produce an illicit drug smoke that was collected onto various surface materials and left exposed to ambient conditions over 672 h (four weeks). Chemical analyses by electrospray ionization‐mass spectrometry of residues on silicon, plastic, laminate, and artificial leather surfaces indicated a rapid decrease in recovery of the parent molecule, with varied formation of decomposition products over the first 168 h of exposure. Measurable amounts of the parent molecule were still present after 672 h, exhibiting a strong persistence of these drugs on various household materials. This is important in a forensic science context, as third‐hand smoke residues could provide a viable source of trace evidence previously not utilized. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

Heroin and Methamphetamine Injection: An Emerging Drug Use Pattern

Objective: We sought to describe an emerging drug use pattern characterized by injection of both methamphetamine and heroin. We examined differences in drug injection patterns by demographics, injection behaviors, HIV and HCV status, and overdose. Methods: Persons who inject drugs (PWID) were recruited as part of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) system in Denver, Colorado. We used chi-square statistics to assess differences between those who reported only heroin injection, only methamphetamine injection, and combined heroin and methamphetamine injection. We used generalized linear models to estimate unadjusted and adjusted prevalence ratios to describe the association between drug injection pattern and reported nonfatal overdose in 2015. We also examined changes in the drug reported as most frequently injected across previous NHBS cycles from 2005, 2009, and 2012. Results: Of 592 participants who completed the survey in 2015, 173 (29.2%) reported only injecting heroin, 123 (20.8%) reported only injecting methamphetamine, and 296 (50.0%) reported injecting both drugs during the past 12 months. Injecting both heroin and methamphetamine was associated with a 2.8 (95% confidence interval: 1.7, 4.5) fold increase in reported overdose in the past 12 months compared with only injecting heroin. The proportion of those reporting methamphetamine as the most frequently injected drug increased from 2.1% in 2005 to 29.6% in 2015 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The rapid increase in methamphetamine injection, and the emergence of combining methamphetamine with heroin, may have serious public health implications.     

Barriers and Pathways to Diffusion of Methamphetamine Use Among African Americans in the Rural South

Abstract

There are no studies of African Americans', methamphetamine use in the South where it is widespread among whites. We describe factors that inhibit or facilitate the diffusion of methamphetamine use among African Americans based on qualitative interviews with 86 drug users in rural Arkansas and Kentucky. Results suggest low prevalence of methamphetamine use among African Americans, and interviewees cited several barriers to its diffusion which were linked to the drug's ingredients, psychoactive and physiological effects, difficulty in accessing distribution networks, and established African-American preference for cocaine. Fourteen African Americans reported methamphetamine use and discussed pathways to it. Possible increases in African-American methamphetamine use merits further investigation.