INFLUENCE OF THE NORADRENERGIC SYSTEM ON BEHAVIORAL PARAMETERS OF ANXIETY AND EXPLORATION

Resumo

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive and chronic neurodegenerative motor disorder, which results in the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons. Its motor symptoms include stiffness, bradykinesia and tremor at rest. Degeneration of the noradrenergic system has great relevance in the development of the disease and the appearance of non-motor symptoms that are observed in the preliminary stages of PD. Objective: In this way, the objective is to create an animal model to degenerate the noradrenergic system of rats and to evaluate the influence of this system in behavioral tests. Methodology: An animal model wasperformed using the neurotoxin DSP-4 in order to degenerate the noradrenergic system of wistar rats. After a period of 12 days, open field tests were performed to assess locomotion andexploration, and the elevated plus maze test was used to assess anxiety and fear. Results: In anopen field test, the DSP-4 model showed reduced locomotor and exploratory activity in relation to the control group, confirming the expected animal model. In the elevated plus-maze test, there was an increase in anxiety and fear in relation to the control group. Conclusion: The depletion of noradrenergic neurons contributes to the appearance of a behavioral pattern that could be related to the non-motor symptoms of PD.