Forelimb akinesia and metabolic alteration in the striatum following unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesion in rats: An in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study
The 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions of the nigrostriatal dopamine system in rat can develop neuropathological and neurochemcial changes similar to those seen in patients with Parkinson¡¯s disease (PD). The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the N-acetylaspartate level (NAA), regarded as neuronal marker would be decreased after 6-OHDA lesions in rat brain and to determine whether metabolic alteration are correlated with behavioral deficit. The animals were undergone adjusting stepping test and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). In vivo 1H-NMR spectra (TR/TE = 2500/144 ms) were acquired from both left (contralateral region) and right striatum (ipsillateral region). There was a highly significant impairment in left forepaw performance and significant reductions in NAA/total creatine (tCr) ratios were observed in the ipsillateral striatum of rat (P < 0.05). Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between left forepaw performance and NAA/tCr level on the whole sample (Spearman correlation test, ¥ñ = 0.634, P = 0.011). Our results suggest that the NAA/tCr ratio may be a valuable criterion for evaluation of functional impairment of the striatum in 6-OHDA rat model of PD.