Riluzole delayed appearance of parkinsonian motor abnormalities in a chronic MPTP monkey model

Erwan Bezard, Jean-Marie Stutzmann, Christelle Imbert, Thomas Boraud, Alain Boireau, Christian E. Gross
European Journal of Pharmacology. 1998-09-01; 356(2-3): 101-104
DOI: 10.1016/S0014-2999(98)00537-8

Bezard E(1), Stutzmann JM, Imbert C, Boraud T, Boireau A, Gross CE.

Author information:
(1)Laboratoire de Neurophysiologie, CNRS UMR 5543, Université de Bordeaux II,
France.

Preliminary studies have shown that riluzole, a Na+ channel blocker with
antiglutamatergic activity, has neuroprotective efficacy in several models of
acute dopaminergic neurodegeneration. A chronic
1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) monkey model which comes
closer to the slow evolution of Parkinson’s disease has recently been developed
in order to allow dynamic studies. The present results show that riluzole
delayed the appearance of parkinsonian motor abnormalities in this dynamic
model, using from 10.2 +/- 1.6 daily injections for the MPTP-treated monkeys (n
= 4) to 16.5 +/- 2.0 daily injections for the MPTP + riluzole-treated monkeys (n
= 4). These results strongly suggest that riluzole may be beneficial to slow
down the rate of progression of Parkinson’s disease.

DOI: 10.1016/s0014-2999(98)00537-8
PMID: 9774238 [Indexed for MEDLINE]