MPTP-Induced Parkinsonian Syndromes in Humans and Animals

Abstract

The illicit synthesis and use of a meperidine analogue containing a side reaction product, l-methyl-4-phenyl-l,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), led to the discovery that this contaminant is a neurotoxin which produces in some animals, as well as in humans, a motor disorder which closely resembles Parkinson’s Disease (Davis, et al., 1979; Langston, et al., 1983). This discovery has stimulated considerable research in efforts to determine the areas of brain which are involved, the attendant biochemical changes, the mechanisms of toxicity, and the usefulness of the toxin-induced motor disorder as an animal model with which to gain further insight into the pathogenesis and treatment of Parkinson’s Disease. It is the purpose of this presentation to recount the history of this discovery, to review our present knowledge of MPTP- induced motor disorders and to examine the implications for understanding spontaneously occurring Parkinson’s Disease.