Modeling Parkinson's disease in primates: The MPTP model.

The 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) primate models of Parkinson's disease (PD) reproduce most, although not all, of the clinical and pathological hallmarks of PD. The present contribution presents the possibilities offered by the MPTP monkey models of PD to readers with minimal knowledge of PD, emphasizing the diversity of species, route and regimen of administration, symptoms and pathological features. Readers would eventually find out that there is not a single MPTP monkey model of PD but instead MPTP monkey models of PD, each addressing a specific experimental need.