Neurotoxic effect of prenatal exposure to MPTP on the dopaminergic systems of the marmoset brain.

MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) was incidentally administered to pregnant marmosets during the whole gestational period, except for the last 15 days before term. The infant monkeys were killed 5 months after birth, and dopamine and its metabolites were measured in the striatum and the nucleus accumbens. Prenatal exposure to MPTP produced a marked dopamine depletion in these brain regions of the offspring, showing that MPTP is able to cross the placental barrier in primates.