Artículo de revista
Models of progressive neurological dysfunction originating early in life
Fecha
2017-08Registro en:
Progress in Neurobiology 155 (2017) 2–20
10.1016/j.pneurobio.2015.10.001
Autor
Marriott, Amber L.
Rojas Mancilla, Edgardo
Morales Retamales, Paola
Herrera-Marschitz Muller, Mario
Tasker, R. Andrew
Institución
Resumen
It is now well established that many of society’s most devastating and costly neurological diseases and
disorders arise from trauma at, or shortly after birth. In some cases deficits are seen in childhood and in
others they are substantially delayed; arising in adolescence or young adulthood. In either case the initial
insult initiates a metabolic and/or neurodegenerative cascade that proceeds, often undetected, for a
considerable period of time before diagnosable symptoms appear. This affords a potential for detecting
and slowing or arresting degenerative and/or malfunctioning processes prior to the appearance of
symptoms, but requires an understanding of the mechanisms involved in the progressive dysfunction
that characterizes the disease progression process. While numerous preclinical models of end-stage
symptoms of neurological disease are established, animal models of progressive neurological
dysfunction have received comparatively less attention. This review attempts to introduce the concept
of modelling progressive dysfunction in animals and provides descriptions of the current status of
several representative examples of models that have been developed and partially characterized for
understanding diseases of the brain that arise either at or near the time of birth in rodents. It is our belief
that such models are essential to understanding the underlying mechanisms responsible for progressive
neurological dysfunction and hold the potential for identifying targets for early detection and
presymptomatic therapy of these conditions.