Preclinical Models of Hepatic Encephalopathy

AbstractParkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease in which pigmented midbrain neurons progressively die producing a dopamine (DA) deficit in the striatum which manifests as an akinetic movement disorder. Experimentally induced striatal DA depletion in animals is a valid model of parkinsonism. The capacity of certain substances to damage catecholaminergic neurones has been used for a long time to produce DA deficiency in animals. This unit focuses on methods for inducing parkinsonism using the neurotoxins MPTP and 6‐hydroxy dopamine and methods for evaluating the animals. Other models are briefly reviewed.