Catecholaminergic neuronal degeneration in rainbow trout assessed by skin color change: a model system for identification of environmental risk factors.

Genetic, neurochemical, and environmental factors have been implicated in neurodegenerative disease, and a combination of these factors is likely responsible for disease onset and progression. Environmental toxicants implicated in Parkinson's disease include organic compounds, reactive oxygen species, metal ions and others. Exposure to a combination of environmental toxicants may produce a synergistic insult leading to neuronal death, even though levels of individual toxicants may be below detection by conventional methods. Rodent models of toxicant-induced neurodegeneration are hampered by the high resistance of these animals to many environmental toxicants. Extensive literature on aquatic toxicology and the high homology between many human and fish neurotrophic factors makefish a useful model for investigating environmental toxicants and neurodegeneration. Skin color in salmonids is under catecholaminergic control; pigment-containing melanophores aggregate when stimulated, resulting in paling. We demonstrate that lesions to nerves innervating melanophores prevent aggregation and produce dark skin color. The time course for return of skin color corresponds to neuronal regeneration, a neurotrophin-dependent event. Observations from this model system may be useful for predicting risks associated with environmental toxicants and nervous system integrity, and may have important implications for the identification of risk factors.