Pharmacological validation of a mouse model of l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia

During 3 weeks of treatment, l-DOPA-treated mice developed AIMs affecting the head, trunk and forelimb on the side contralateral to the lesion. These movements were not expressed by animals treated with ropinirole or KW-6002 at doses that improved forelimb akinesia. The severity of l-DOPA-induced rodent AIMs was significantly reduced by the acute administration of compounds that have been shown to alleviate l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia both in parkinsonian patients and in rat and monkey models of Parkinson's disease (amantadine, −47%; buspirone, −46%; riluzole, −33%). The present data indicate that the mouse AIMs are indeed a functional equivalent of l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia.