Evaluation of animal models of Parkinson's disease for neuroprotective strategies

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the progressive loss of dopaminergic nigral neurons and striatal dopamine. Despite the advances of modem therapy to treat the symptoms of PD, most of the patients will eventually experience debilitating disability. The need for neuroprotective strategies that will slow or stop the progression of the disease is clear. The progress in the understanding of the cause and pathogenesis of PD is providing clues for the development of disease-modifying strategies. In that regard, animal models of PD and non-human primate models in particular, are essential for the preclinical evaluation and testing of candidate therapies. However, the diversity of models and different outcome measures used by investigators make it challenging to compare results between neuroprotective agents. In this review we will discuss methods for the selection, development and assessment of animal models of PD, the role of non-human primates and the concept of "multiple models/multiple endpoints" to predict the success in the clinic of neuroprotective strategies. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.