Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.1.1 (hexokinase)
 5,274 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Aldose reductase is a rate limiting enzyme in the polyol pathway associated with the conversion of glucose to sorbitol. The enzyme is located in the eye (cornea, retina, lens), kidney, myelin sheath, and also in other tissues less involved in diabetic complications. Experiments in diabetic animals have implicated sorbitol accumulation in the lens to the development of cataracts. The use of inhibitors of aldose reductase in animal studies has demonstrated that diabetic complications such as cataracts, nephropathy, and slowing of nerve conduction can be ameliorated. While an osmotic effect can explain the physical changes in the lens leading to cataract formation, the effect of sorbitol accumulation in other tissues and the resulting diabetic complications has been linked to the depletion of myoinositol content resulting in a derangement of sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase activity. Since glucose and other hexoses are poor substrates for aldose reductase, it is only in hyperglycemia when the enzyme hexokinase is saturated that aldose reductase is activated, leading to accumulation of sorbitol. The kinetics of inhibition of aldose reductase by a variety of inhibitors has been delineated. The dose required varies from inhibitor to inhibitor and is consistent with their inhibition constants. Toxicity is a consideration in the use of some of the inhibitors, as was demonstrated with sorbinil which caused hypersensitivity reactions in 10 percent of patients. Other inhibitors such as tolerant have shown efficacy and are under clinical investigation. Interpretation of results obtained with aldose reductase inhibitor therapy in human subjects suggest that these inhibitors are effective at early stages of diabetic complications.
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PMID:Aldose reductase and its inhibition in the control of diabetic complications. 845 42

Wilson disease (WD) is an autosomal recessive disorder due to the defect in ATP7B gene characterized by excessive accumulation of copper in the liver with progressive hepatic damage and subsequent redistribution to various extrahepatic tissues including the brain, kidneys, and cornea. Strikingly, the total serum copper concentration is always low in WD, even though the non-ceruloplasmin copper level is still expected to be high. To assess the role of free radical reactions catalyzed by non-ceruloplasmin copper, we investigated erythrocyte metabolism and oxidative stress as a mechanism for hemolysis in eight WD patients during episodes of acute hemolysis and compared them with eight follow-up cases of WD on d-penicillamine therapy and eight healthy, age-matched children. Elevated levels of non-ceruloplasmin copper were found in all the WD patients during an episode of hemolytic anemia. There was marked inhibition in erythrocyte enzymes, namely, hexokinase, total adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase), and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) from WD patients compared with patients on penicillamine and healthy children, indicating altered erythrocyte metabolism during a hemolytic crisis. Antioxidant status was also found to be compromised as is evident from decreased glutathione (GSH) levels, decreased antioxidant enzymes (namely, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase), increased lipid peroxidation, and deranged plasma antioxidants. Uric acid showed maximum decrease followed by ascorbic acid. These findings suggest that the free radical production by elevated non-ceruloplasmin copper through transition metal catalyzed reactions leads to oxidative injury resulting in altered erythrocyte metabolism and severely compromised antioxidant status of WD patients during hemolytic anemia.
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PMID:Erythrocyte metabolism and antioxidant status of patients with Wilson disease with hemolytic anemia. 1654 36