А Provocation Test Reveals Behavioral and Cognitive Dysfunctions in Parkinson’s Disease Model in Mice

The Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that mainly affects the motor system and characterized by a long asymptomatic period, which usually lasts for 20-30 years (the so-called preclinical stage). At present, there is no way to stop or at least slow down the process of neuronal death. It becomes obvious that it is necessary to develop methods for early diagnosis of the disease. In this work a provocative method using a pharmacological agent α-methyl-p-tyrosine (αMpT) at a minimal dose was suggested that was not previously used as a method of diagnostics of mental diseases. The essence of provocative tests is the reversible enhancement of functional deficiency of cells and organs, which allows to "provoke" the symptoms characteristic to the disease at the preclinical stage. The behavioral and cognitive features of the acute MPTP - model of the preclinical stage of PD in mice were characterized in this work. In perspective, the combination of two approaches - the search for peripheral biomarkers and the use of a provocative test - should improve the quality of PD diagnostics at preclinical stages.