Parkinson disease has been studied using Drosophila models in which neurodegenerative symptoms are produced by administration of MPP (1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium). MPP is the major metabolite of MPTP, the causative agent of a cluster of acute Parkinson-like cases in 1982 that were traced to contaminated synthetic heroin.
[updated Feb. 2018 by FlyBase; FBrf0222196]
MPTP is the causative agent of a cluster of acute Parkinson-like cases reported in and around 1982; MPTP was found to be a contaminant of synthetic heroin. Patients exhibited virtually all of the motor features of typical Parkinsons disease and some of the non-motor aspects; symptoms were responsive to L-dopa. MPTP has been used extensively in mammalian models of Parkinson disease. (Langston, 2017; pubmed:28282815)
MPTP, as a lipophilic compound, can pass into the brain; there it is converted into the toxic metabolite MPP+. (Langston, 2017; pubmed:28282815)
In mammals, MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-l,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) is metabolized in the liver; its main metabolite is MPP+ (1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion) (Algeri, et al., 1987; pubmed:3500067).
