A call for clinically driven experimental design in assessing neuroprotection in experimental Parkinsonism.

1. Behav Pharmacol. 2006 Sep;17(5-6):379-82.

A call for clinically driven experimental design in assessing neuroprotection in
experimental Parkinsonism.

Bezard E(1).

Author information:
(1)CNRS UMR 5543, Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 University, Bordeaux, France.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. At present, only
symptomatic treatments are of proven efficacy, whereas strategies that slow or
stop the neurodegenerative process are currently not available. The selection of
interesting drug candidates or surgical strategies should be based on the
soundest clinically driven preclinical validation. My goal here is not to discuss
the relative merits of the available models, but to simply raise the issue of the
experimental design that has led to the demonstration of efficacy of given
compounds in these models. As some compounds previously shown to be active in
classic experimental designs fail when tested in clinically relevant experimental
designs, I emphasize the need for progressive screening methods and for the use
of different animal species before entering into the clinic.

PMID: 16940758 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Auteurs Bordeaux Neurocampus