Effects of stress on a mouse model of parkinson's disease.

• Main Author: Nurul Dini Abdul Rahim.
• Other Authors: School of Biological Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/49483
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Neurodegenerative diseases have been associated with high mortality rates but only few treatments are available. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the 2nd most common age-related neurodegenerative disease, characterized by motor symptoms such as resting tremors, rigidity, and postural instability. Non-motor symptoms, which precede the motor symptoms, are frequently overlooked in PD patients. In particular, 40% of PD patients have experienced chronic pain though it is unexplained. While PD has been known to be sporadic in nature, the discovery of PD genes and recent research on environmental factors on PD show that the development of PD is likely to have multifactorial origin. In this study, we investigated the nociception response using the formalin test in LRRK2R1441G mice, which is a PD mouse model. The mice were also tested for motor deficits in the cylinder test and gait analysis. Additionally, mice were subjected to unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) and were also tested for motor deficits to observe the effect of stress on these mice. Our results show that the LRRK2 transgenic mutant mice showed greater nociception response with age. LRRK2 mice showed no motor deficits in the gait analysis at a younger age but had age-dependent motor deficits in the cylinder test at 12 months old. Mice subjected to UCMS did not show any significant motor deficits but show premise that mice could develop the motor deficits earlier.