Oxidant–antioxidant imbalance in the erythrocytes of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients correlates with the progression of disease

• Published in: Neurochemistry international Vol. 52; no. 6; pp. 1284 - 1289
• Main Authors: Babu, G. Nagesh, Kumar, Alok, Chandra, Ramesh, Puri, S.K., Singh, R.L., Kalita, Jayantee, Misra, U.K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - blood; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - physiopathology; Antioxidant enzymes; Antioxidants - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - analysis; Biomarkers - metabolism; Catalase - metabolism; Central Nervous System - metabolism; Central Nervous System - physiopathology; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Disease Progression; Erythrocytes - metabolism; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase; Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase - metabolism; Glutathione; Glutathione Peroxidase - metabolism; Glutathione Reductase - metabolism; Humans; Lipid peroxidation; Lipid Peroxidation - physiology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neurology; Oxidants - metabolism; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidative stress; Oxidative Stress - physiology; Superoxide Dismutase - metabolism; Superoxide Dismutase-1; Time Factors; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Lipid peroxidation; Oxidative stress; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase; Antioxidant enzymes; Glutathione; Human; Nervous system diseases; Glucose-6-phosphate 1-dehydrogenase; Enzyme; Red blood cell; Lipids; Antioxidant; Blood cell; Central nervous system disease; Degenerative disease; Oxidoreductases; Spinal cord disease; Peroxidation
• ISSN: 0197-0186; 1872-9754
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuint.2008.01.009

Free radicals are implicated in numerous disease processes including motor neuron degeneration (MND). Antioxidant defense enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), glutathione reductase (GR) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) in the erythrocytes are capable of detoxifying reactive oxygen species produced endogenously or exogenously. In the present study, the extent of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and antioxidant defenses were evaluated in the erythrocytes of 20 sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients and 20 controls.
We observed that lipid peroxidation in the erythrocytes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients significantly increased with respect to controls (
P
<
0.001). On the other hand, catalase activity was found to be significantly lower (
P
<
0.001). The activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutathione reductase and glutathione levels were also found to be significantly reduced in ALS patients compared to healthy subjects (
P
<
0.001,
P
<
0.01 and
P
<
0.01, respectively). It was further observed that lipid peroxidation started to increase and catalase, glutathione reductase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme activities and glutathione levels started to decrease as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis progressed from 6 to 24 months, suggesting a correlation between these parameters and duration of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This study confirms the involvement of oxidative stress during the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and the need to develop specific peripheral biomarkers.