The CRF-like peptide urocortin produces a long-lasting recovery in rats made hemiparkinsonian by 6-hydroxydopamine or lipopolysaccharide

We have recently observed that the corticotropin releasing factor related peptide urocortin (UCN) reverses key features of nigrostriatal neurodegeneration following intracerebral injection of either 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). To determine the potential therapeutic utility of UCN here we have studied whether these effects are sustained for several weeks following peptide injection. In addition we have studied whether UCN still shows efficacy in rats with more pronounced nigrostriatal lesions. Rats were lesioned using 6-OHDA or LPS and injected with UCN either 7 or 14 days later. At different time points animals were tested for rotational behaviour (apomorphine, 0.5 mg/kg) and subsequently implanted with bilateral dialysis probes into the striata. The following day rats were dialysed to estimate extracellular striatal dopamine (DA) and then sacrificed for estimation of striatal tissue DA and subsequent immunohistochemistry of TH+ cells in the substantia nigra (SN). Toxin treated rats given UCN 7 days later showed clear evidence of reduced nigrostriatal damage both 28 and 84 days following UCN compared with saline injection. In rats given UCN 14 days after toxin injection, by which time deficits were maximal, a restoration of nigrostriatal damage was observed. This suggests that UCN is able to elicit a sustained restoration of functional nigrostriatal integrity and has the ability to produce a recovery in severely lesioned rats. These findings suggest that stimulation of CRF (probably CRF1) receptors could have therapeutic utility in PD.