Parkinsonian Rat Model Evaluation

Two weeks after 6-OHDA administration, an amphetamine-induced rotation test was performed to confirm dopaminergic depletion in the nigrostriatal pathway (measure dopamine imbalance). Animals were injected intraperitoneally with amphetamine (4 mg/kg, Sigma-Aldrich). The number of left and right turns was recorded for 90 min using a custom-built computerized image and movement recognition system previously reported by our group [27 (link)]. Animals were evaluated 2 weeks after the 6-OHDA lesion, and only those with >400 ipsilateral turns were selected for transplantation procedures.