RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Sleep-State Dependent Alterations in Brain Functional Connectivity under Urethane Anesthesia in a Rat Model of Early-Stage Parkinson’s Disease
JF eneuro
JO eNeuro
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP ENEURO.0456-18.2019
DO 10.1523/ENEURO.0456-18.2019
VO 6
IS 1
A1 Zhurakovskaya, Ekaterina
A1 Leikas, Juuso
A1 Pirttimäki, Tiina
A1 Casas Mon, Francesc
A1 Gynther, Mikko
A1 Aliev, Rubin
A1 Rantamäki, Tomi
A1 Tanila, Heikki
A1 Forsberg, Markus M.
A1 Gröhn, Olli
A1 Paasonen, Jaakko
A1 Jalkanen, Aaro J.
YR 2019
UL http://www.eneuro.org/content/6/1/ENEURO.0456-18.2019.abstract
AB Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by the gradual degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, leading to striatal dopamine depletion. A partial unilateral striatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion causes 40–60% dopamine depletion in the lesioned rat striatum, modeling the early stage of PD. In this study, we explored the connectivity between the brain regions in partially 6-OHDA lesioned male Wistar rats under urethane anesthesia using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 5 weeks after the 6-OHDA infusion. Under urethane anesthesia, the brain fluctuates between the two states, resembling rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep states. We observed clear urethane-induced sleep-like states in 8/19 lesioned animals and 8/18 control animals. 6-OHDA lesioned animals exhibited significantly lower functional connectivity between the brain regions. However, we observed these differences only during the REM-like sleep state, suggesting the involvement of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway in REM sleep regulation. Corticocortical and corticostriatal connections were decreased in both hemispheres, reflecting the global effect of the lesion. Overall, this study describes a promising model to study PD-related sleep disorders in rats using fMRI.