Forelimb stepping test software development for nigrostriatal dopamine system functionality assessment and motor parameter evaluation

M. P. BONACCORSO MARINELLI; M. J. LEDESMA; F. E. NIETO GRIMALT; R. J. CABRERA

Revista argentina de bioingeniería

Virginia Laura Ballarin, Gustavo Javier Meschino

Lugar: Mar del Plata; Año: 2018 vol. 22

2591-376X

Parkinson disease (PD)characteristic motor dysfunctions are tremors, stiffness, bradykinesia and gaitdisorders.We use an experimental adult malerat model of hemiparkinsonism and investigate chronic estrogen administration effectsin the functionality of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system.Forelimb akinesia in rats isanalogous to limb akinesia and gait problems seen in patients with PD. We have developeda software to test adjusting steps, stepping time, step length and initiationtime. The implementation tracks each animal forelimb movement and measuresthose parameters. It performs statistical analysis and presents data in barcharts or Excel sheets.The software was validated bycorrelating manual and automated adjusting steps.Estrogen treated animals exhibit ahigher compensatory mechanism to motor dysfunction, improving the number ofadjusting steps and showing less bradykinesia. Also, there is a beneficialeffect of estrogen related to a higher average energy that could be enhancingstepping time and forelimb movement magnitude.In conclusion, this softwaredevelopment and implementation is a worthy tool to in vivo infer onforelimb akinesia. By applying it, we obtain a new sensitive approach in theeffect of estrogen as a neuroprotective drug in PD as it restores balance,mobility, speed and also diminishes bradykinesia.