Levodopa Rescues Retinal Function in the Transgenic A53T Alpha-Synuclein Model of Parkinson’s Disease

KKN Tran; VHY Wong; KA Vessey; DI Finkelstein; BV Bui; CTO Nguyen

Journal article

Levodopa Rescues Retinal Function in the Transgenic A53T Alpha-Synuclein Model of Parkinson’s Disease

KKN Tran, VHY Wong, KA Vessey, DI Finkelstein, BV Bui, CTO Nguyen

Biomedicines | MDPI | Published : 2024

DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12010130

Abstract

Background: Loss of substantia nigra dopaminergic cells and alpha-synuclein (α-syn)-rich intraneuronal deposits within the central nervous system are key hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Levodopa (L-DOPA) is the current gold-standard treatment for PD. This study aimed to evaluate in vivo retinal changes in a transgenic PD model of α-syn overexpression and the effect of acute levodopa (L-DOPA) treatment. Methods: Anaesthetised 6-month-old mice expressing human A53T alpha-synuclein (HOM) and wildtype (WT) control littermates were intraperitoneally given 20 mg/kg L-DOPA (50 mg levodopa, 2.5 mg benserazide) or vehicle saline (n = 11–18 per group). In vivo retinal function (dark-adapted ful..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Kirstan Vessey Author

David Finkelstein Author

Bang Bui Author

Christine Nguyen Author

Related Projects (1)

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Grants

Awarded by Biogen

Funding Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Amelia Sedjahtera (Parkinson's Disease Laboratory, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia) for breeding and genotyping the A53T mice.