Coexistence of Gait Disturbances and Chorea in Experimental Huntington’s Disease
Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease caused by an expanded CAG repeat. The clinical features are progressive motor dysfunction, cognitive deterioration, and psychiatric disturbances. Unpredictable choreic movements, among the most characteristic hallmarks, may...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2015-01-01
|
| Series: | Behavioural Neurology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/970204 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832568151423844352 |
|---|---|
| author | João Casaca-Carreira Yasin Temel Marloes van Zelst Ali Jahanshahi |
| author_facet | João Casaca-Carreira Yasin Temel Marloes van Zelst Ali Jahanshahi |
| author_sort | João Casaca-Carreira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease caused by an expanded CAG repeat. The clinical features are progressive motor dysfunction, cognitive deterioration, and psychiatric disturbances. Unpredictable choreic movements, among the most characteristic hallmarks, may contribute to gait disturbances and loss of balance in HD individuals. In this study, we aimed to investigate and characterize the gait abnormalities and choreic movements in a transgenic rat model of HD (tgHD). TgHD presents typical neuropathological, neurophysiological, and behavioral aspects mimicking some of the key features of human HD and is the only described experimental model for HD that exhibits choreiform movements. We used the Catwalk, with emphasis on static and dynamic gait parameters, to test the hypothesis that at symptomatic age (9 months) the dynamic measures of gait in HD are altered and coexist with choreiform movements. Our results showed that the dynamic parameters seem to be more affected than static parameters at this age in tgHD rats. The number of steps and step cycles and swing speed of the paws were increased in tgHD rat in comparison to wild-type controls. Our study demonstrates that gait abnormalities coexist with chorea rather than being caused by it. These symptoms may originate from distinct networks in the basal ganglia and downstream connections. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7ecb723b8d824019bee0876a13b7a700 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0953-4180 1875-8584 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioural Neurology |
| spelling | doaj-art-7ecb723b8d824019bee0876a13b7a7002025-02-03T00:59:39ZengWileyBehavioural Neurology0953-41801875-85842015-01-01201510.1155/2015/970204970204Coexistence of Gait Disturbances and Chorea in Experimental Huntington’s DiseaseJoão Casaca-Carreira0Yasin Temel1Marloes van Zelst2Ali Jahanshahi3Department of Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Center, 6229 ER Maastricht, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Center, 6229 ER Maastricht, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Center, 6229 ER Maastricht, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Center, 6229 ER Maastricht, NetherlandsHuntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease caused by an expanded CAG repeat. The clinical features are progressive motor dysfunction, cognitive deterioration, and psychiatric disturbances. Unpredictable choreic movements, among the most characteristic hallmarks, may contribute to gait disturbances and loss of balance in HD individuals. In this study, we aimed to investigate and characterize the gait abnormalities and choreic movements in a transgenic rat model of HD (tgHD). TgHD presents typical neuropathological, neurophysiological, and behavioral aspects mimicking some of the key features of human HD and is the only described experimental model for HD that exhibits choreiform movements. We used the Catwalk, with emphasis on static and dynamic gait parameters, to test the hypothesis that at symptomatic age (9 months) the dynamic measures of gait in HD are altered and coexist with choreiform movements. Our results showed that the dynamic parameters seem to be more affected than static parameters at this age in tgHD rats. The number of steps and step cycles and swing speed of the paws were increased in tgHD rat in comparison to wild-type controls. Our study demonstrates that gait abnormalities coexist with chorea rather than being caused by it. These symptoms may originate from distinct networks in the basal ganglia and downstream connections.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/970204 |
| spellingShingle | João Casaca-Carreira Yasin Temel Marloes van Zelst Ali Jahanshahi Coexistence of Gait Disturbances and Chorea in Experimental Huntington’s Disease Behavioural Neurology |
| title | Coexistence of Gait Disturbances and Chorea in Experimental Huntington’s Disease |
| title_full | Coexistence of Gait Disturbances and Chorea in Experimental Huntington’s Disease |
| title_fullStr | Coexistence of Gait Disturbances and Chorea in Experimental Huntington’s Disease |
| title_full_unstemmed | Coexistence of Gait Disturbances and Chorea in Experimental Huntington’s Disease |
| title_short | Coexistence of Gait Disturbances and Chorea in Experimental Huntington’s Disease |
| title_sort | coexistence of gait disturbances and chorea in experimental huntington s disease |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/970204 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT joaocasacacarreira coexistenceofgaitdisturbancesandchoreainexperimentalhuntingtonsdisease AT yasintemel coexistenceofgaitdisturbancesandchoreainexperimentalhuntingtonsdisease AT marloesvanzelst coexistenceofgaitdisturbancesandchoreainexperimentalhuntingtonsdisease AT alijahanshahi coexistenceofgaitdisturbancesandchoreainexperimentalhuntingtonsdisease |