BACKGROUND: Substantia nigra is deep in position and limited in range, the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) injection directly into substantia nigra has relatively greater damages with higher difficulty. GDNF injection into striatum, the target area of dopaminergic neuron, may protect the dopaminergic neurons in the compact part of substantia nigra through retrograde transport.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effect of intrastriatal GDNF on dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of mice with Parkinson disease (PD), and analyze the action pathway.DESIGN: A controlled observation.SETTING: Neurobiological Laboratory of Xuzhou Medical College.MATERIALS: Twenty-four male Kunming mice of 7 - 8 weeks old were used. GDNF,1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) were purchased from Sigma Company (USA);LEICAQWin image processing and analytical system.METHODS: The experiments were carried out in the Neurobiological Laboratory of Xuzhou Medical College from September 2005 to October 2006. The PD models were established in adult KunMing mice by intraperitoneal injection of MPTP. The model mice were were randomly divided into four groups with 6 mice in each group: GDNF 4-day group, phosphate buffer solution (PSB) 4-day group, GDNF 6-day group and PSB 6-day group. Mice in the GDNF 4 and 6-day groups were administrated with 1 μL GDNF solution (20 μg/L, dispensed with 0.01 mol/L PBS) injected into right striatum at 4 and 6 days after model establishment. Mice in the PSB 4 and 6-day groups were administrated with 0.01 mol/L PBS of the same volume to the same injection at corresponding time points. ② On the 12th day after model establishment, the midbrain tissue section of each mice was divided into 3 areas from rostral to caudal sides. The positive neurons of tyroxine hydroxylase (TH) and calcium binding protein (CB) with obvious nucleolus and clear outline were randomly selected for the measurement, and the number of positive neurons in unit area was counted.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of positive neurons of TH and CB in midbrain substantia nigra of mice in each group.RESULTS: All the 24 mice were involved in the analysis of results. The numbers of TH+ and CB+ neurons in the GDNF 4-day group (54.33±6.92, 46.33±5.54) were obviously more than those in the PBS 4-day group (27.67±5.01, 21.50±5.96, P ＜ 0.01). The numbers of TH+ and CB+ neurons in the GDNF 6-day group (75.67±5.39, 69.67±8.69) were obviously more than those in the PBS 6-day group (27.17±4.50,21.33 ± 5.72, P ＜ 0.01) and those in the GDNF 4-day group (P ＜ 0.01 ).CONCLUSION: Intrastriatal GDNF can protect dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra of PD mice, and it may be related to the increase of CB expression.