Intra-parenchymal injection of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin 1-β produces dopamine neuron loss in the rat

Inflammatory processes are thought to underlie the dopamine (DA) neuron loss seen in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, it is not known if the inflammation precedes that loss, or is a consequence of it. We injected tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta) into the median forebrain bundle to determine if these pro-inflammatory cytokines could induce DA neuron loss in the substantia nigra (SN) by themselves. The magnitude of the DA cell loss as well as the decreases in striatal DA, were both dose and time to sacrifice dependent. Injecting both cytokines together produced greater cell losses and DA reductions than that seen when the cytokines were injected alone. The DA neuron loss seen was more pronounced in the lateral nigra and its ventral tier and similar to that seen when other toxins are injected. These data suggest that TNF alpha and IL-1 beta can induce DA neuron loss by themselves and could produce DA neuron loss independent of other inflammatory events.