(no subject)
MPTP (1-methyl 4-phenyl 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) is what happens when graduate students get a little too confident in their garage chemistry skills. The neverending quest for the ultimate high has led people to develop numerous drug derivatives that act like their illicit relatives but have slight structure changes. Since this can lead to literally hundreds of drugs being produced each year, prosecution is unlikely because the DEA can't keep up with all of them. Unfortunately, sometimes this process can go wrong.
- MPTP was created in the late 70s as a result of bad synthesis of MPPP, an opioid-like compound.
- When injected, it produces a syndrome that looks a lot like Parkinson's disease, except it develops within days, not years like normal Parkinsonism.
- In the early 80s, a group of heroin addicts mistakenly injected MPTP and rapidly developed bradykinesia , rigidity and tremor. These people were treated by William Langston who correctly indentified the cause.
- Langston also experimented with monkeys and showed that MPTP not only produces the symptoms but also results in a similar neurobiological insult as Parkinson's disease. MPTP is converted to MPP+ in the brain and specifically kills dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra.
- MPTP has become one of the foremost techniques used to produce animal models of Parkinson's disease.