Neurotrophic Factor

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The focus of the research was to understand if cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) has the ability to protect and restore dopaminergic neurons in the nigrostriatal system following the injection of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The research was conducted because there has not been a study conducted on the MPTP Parkinson’s disease model with the treatment of CDNF. C57/B16 mice were used as the research subjects. The hypothesis was first tested by injecting the C57/B16 mice with MPTP in the striatum, followed by a CDNF injection 20 hours later. The results of the first test showed improvements in the vertical and horizontal motor behavior. The researchers then followed the same protocol, but injected the mice in …show more content…
The study was conducted due to the understanding that neurotrophic factors have the ability to protect and restore within the nervous system. CDNF was chosen because it is a specific neurotrophic factor of dopaminergic ions in the substantia nigra, which is the pathway that dopaminergic neurons are degenerated in Parkinson’s disease. The researchers tested their hypothesis by first injecting the rats with CDNF into the striatum to protect the dopaminergic neurons then injected the rats with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), which is used to degenerate dopaminergic neurons in a Parkinson’s disease model. The results of this trial showed that injecting CDNF before 6-OHDA protected the dopaminergic neurons within the substantia nigra pathway. The second test the researchers performed was first injecting the striatum of the rat with 6-OHDA then four weeks later injected the striatum with CDNF. The results of this trial showed that the CDNF recover the loss of dopaminergic neurons within the substantia nigra. The results support that CDNF is capable of protecting and restoring dopaminergic neurons within the substantia

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