Objective: Investigate the effects of a peripherally administered novel neurotrophic compound, CMx01a, in 6-hydroxydopamine rat model of Parkinson’s disease.

Background: Neurotrophic factors are promising drug candidates for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. However, as they do not pass through the blood-brain barrier (BBB), they need to be administered directly into the brain which requires a risky surgical operation. Here we studied a recently discovered novel BBB penetrating compound, CMx01a, which has neuroprotective effects in vitro.

Method: CMx01a was studied in a 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) rat model. 6-OHDA was injected unilaterally into the striatum. Two weeks later, amphetamine-induced rotation behaviour was determined to estimate the success and severity of the lesion. Continuous subcutaneous infusion of vehicle or CMx01a, at two dose levels, was given via minipump for four weeks. Amphetamine-induced rotation behaviour was monitored every other week, until week 8. At the end, perfused and fixed brains were cut and immunohistochemical stainings for dopaminergic markers, including tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), were done. The optical density of stained projections was measured from the striatal sections, and the cell number in the substantia nigra was counted.

Results: The project is still ongoing at the moment of abstract submission. Preliminary analysis of the rotation data looks promising but immunohistochemical stainings and analysis of the sections are not completely performed yet. The final results will be presented at the conference.

Conclusion: As experiments are not completed at the moment of abstract submission, conclusions cannot be done. Final conclusions, whether the CMx01a affects the rotation behaviour and dopaminergic cells in nigrostriatal pathway in rats with 6-OHDA lesion, will be shown at the conference.

« Back to MDS Virtual Congress 2020

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/effects-of-a-next-generation-neurotrophic-compound-in-a-toxin-model-of-parkinsons-disease/