Recent reports indicate that interruption of acetylcholine release by intrastriatal injection of botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) in a rat Parkinson's disease model reduces pathogenic behavior without adverse side effects such as memory dysfunction. Current knowledge suggests that BoNT/A subtype 1 (B0NT/A1) and BoNT/A subtype 2 (BoNT/A2) exert different effects. In the present study, we compared the effects of B0NT/A1 and BoNT/A2 on rotation behavior and in vivo cleavage of presynaptic protein SNAP-25 in a rat unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine-induced Parkinson's disease model. BoNT/A2 more effectively reduced pathogenic behavior by efficiently cleaving SNAP-25 in the striatum compared with that of B0NT/A1. Our results suggest that BoNT/A2 has greater clinical therapeutic value for treating subjects with Parkinson's disease compared to that of B0NT/A1. (c) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.