A model of MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease in the goldfish.

Parkinson's disease (PD) has been modeled in humans, lower primates, and to a lesser extent in some other vertebrates by the administration of the potent neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The MPTP model has thus drawn considerable attention during the past 15 years, as a system to search for anti-PD drugs. It has been previously reported that a Parkinsonian syndrome can be elicited in the common goldfish (Carassius auratus) by a single dose of MPTP. This protocol describes the relatively simple and inexpensive MPTP model of PD in goldfish. The procedure takes 14-30 d, depending on how many animals are tested and on the planned study. The accessibility of the goldfish nervous system, neural density, the evolutionary equivalent subcortical circuitry and the greatly abbreviated blood-brain barrier of the goldfish brain, make it an attractive system for study of PD as well as potential drugs for therapy.