Abstract #2186

Neurochemical Profiling of Two Rodent Parkinsons Disease Models: An In Vivo MR Spectroscopy Study

Mlanie Craveiro¹, Philippe Coune², Bernard Schneider², Patrick Aebischer², Rolf Gruetter^1,3

¹Laboratory for Functional & Metabolic Imaging, Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; ²Neurodegenerative Studies Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; ³Universities of Lausanne & Geneva, Departments of Radiology, Switzerland

Animal models of Parkinsons disease (PD) provide an experimental means to define early markers of pathological changes that may affect the nigrostriatal pathway prior to overt neurodegeneration. Only a few toxin-based PD animal models have been investigated by MR spectroscopy (MRS) yet. In this study, the neurochemical profile of two PD rat models, a toxin-based model and a model expected to more faithfully replicate early pathological alterations leading to PD in humans, were acquired by MRS in the striatum. The use of these two models provided a powerful means to detect proper markers of the pathology.