Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: KEGG:D00031 (Glutathione)
5,383 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We measured the contents of amino acids and related amino compounds in autopsied brain from 22 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in cortical biopsy specimens from 2 other patients. The diagnosis of AD was established neuropathologically in all 24 patients by the presence of both neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques in neocortex. The mean contents of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and of the GABA dipeptide homocarnosine, were significantly reduced in frontal and occipital cortices and in hippocampus of the autopsied brains of AD patients compared to control patients without neurological disease. However, GABA contents were normal in frontal cortex in biopsy samples from 2 patients. Phosphoethanolamine contents were significantly reduced at autopsy in frontal and occipital cortex, and in the substantia innominata. We found no evidence of a deficiency of glutamate, aspartate, or taurine in AD brain, as has been claimed. Glutathione contents and glutathione transferase activities were normal in frontal cortex and substantia innominata. The mechanism of neuronal death in patients with AD is unlikely to involve either insufficient synthesis of glutathione or failure to conjugate free radicals with glutathione.
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PMID:Amino acids, glutathione, and glutathione transferase activity in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. 357 18

Glutathione and "total" carnitine (i.e., free carnitine plus acid-soluble carnitine esters) were measured in an affected (superior frontal gyrus; SFG) and unaffected (cerebellum: CBL) region of Alzheimer disease (AD) and control brains. Average glutathione content in AD SFG (n = 13) and AD CBL (n = 7) (7.9 +/- 2.1 and 11.9 +/- 4.0 nmol/mg protein, respectively (mean +/- S.D.)) was similar to that in control SFG (n = 13) and CBL (n = 6) (7.7 +/- 2.0 and 11.6 +/- 2.6 nmol/mg protein, respectively). However, glutathione increased significantly with age in AD brain (p = 0.003) but not in control brain. Average total carnitine in AD SFG (84 +/- 47 pmol/mg protein; n = 10) and AD CBL (108 +/- 86 pmol/mg protein; n = 7) was not significantly different from that in the corresponding regions of control brain (148 +/- 97 (n = 10) and 144 +/- 107 (n = 6) pmol/mg protein, respectively). However, a significant decline of total carnitine with age in both regions was noted for AD brain, but not for control brain. Carnitine acetyltransferase activity in the AD SFG (n = 13) was not significantly different from that of control SFG (n = 13) (1.83 +/- 1.05 and 2.04 +/- 0.82 nmol/min/mg protein, respectively). However, carnitine acetyltransferase activity of AD CBL (n = 7) was significantly lower than that of control CBL (n = 6) (1.33 +/- 0.88 versus 2.26 +/- 0.66 nmol/min/mg protein; p = 0.05).
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PMID:Carnitine, carnitine acetyltransferase, and glutathione in Alzheimer brain. 756 67

1. Tacrine (1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-9-aminoacridine) which is used in Alzheimer's disease, causes elevation of liver transaminases ('tacrine transaminitis') in 40-50% of patients. This may be related to the formation of a chemically reactive metabolite from tacrine, which can be detoxified in vitro by glutathione. 2. Glutathione-S-transferase mu (GSTM1), a detoxication enzyme, is polymorphically expressed being absent in about 50% of patients. Its role in the detoxication of the reactive metabolite of tacrine is not known. 3. The frequency of the enzyme deficiency (GSTM1*0) has been investigated in patients with tacrine transaminitis using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to determine whether the GSTM1 status can be used as an absolute predictive factor for susceptibility to tacrine transaminitis. 4. The frequency of the GSTM1*0 genotype in patients with tacrine transaminitis (n = 33; 45.5%) was not significantly different from that in patients treated with tacrine without liver dysfunction (n = 37; 43%), and when compared with all the controls used in the study (n = 167; 56%). 5. The frequency of the GSTM1*0 genotype in patients with Alzheimer's disease (n = 79; 46%) was not significantly different from that in healthy volunteers (n = 121; 59.5%). 6. Our results indicate that the GSTM1 status cannot be used clinically to predict individual susceptibility to tacrine transaminitis, and that patients with the GSTM1*0 genotype are unlikely to have an increased risk of tacrine-induced liver damage. Furthermore, the GSTM1 status was not associated with Alzheimer's disease.
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PMID:Glutathione S-transferase mu genotype (GSTM1*0) in Alzheimer's patients with tacrine transaminitis. 764 Jan 48

Peroxidation of membrane lipids results in release of the aldehyde 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), which is known to conjugate to specific amino acids of proteins and may alter their function. Because accumulating data indicate that free radicals mediate injury and death of neurons in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and because amyloid beta-peptide (A beta) can promote free radical production, we tested the hypothesis that HNE mediates A beta 25-35-induced disruption of neuronal ion homeostasis and cell death. A beta induced large increases in levels of free and protein-bound HNE in cultured hippocampal cells. HNE was neurotoxic in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, and this toxicity was specific in that other aldehydic lipid peroxidation products were not neurotoxic. HNE impaired Na+, K(+)-ATPase activity and induced an increase of neuronal intracellular free Ca2+ concentration. HNE increased neuronal vulnerability to glutamate toxicity, and HNE toxicity was partially attenuated by NMDA receptor antagonists, suggesting an excitotoxic component to HNE neurotoxicity. Glutathione, which was previously shown to play a key role in HNE metabolism in nonneuronal cells, attenuated the neurotoxicities of both A beta and HNE. The antioxidant propyl gallate protected neurons against A beta toxicity but was less effective in protecting against HNE toxicity. Collectively, the data suggest that HNE mediates A beta-induced oxidative damage to neuronal membrane proteins, which, in turn, leads to disruption of ion homeostasis and cell degeneration.
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PMID:A role for 4-hydroxynonenal, an aldehydic product of lipid peroxidation, in disruption of ion homeostasis and neuronal death induced by amyloid beta-peptide. 897 33

Oxidative stress is believed to play important roles in neuronal cell death associated with many different neurodegenerative conditions (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and cerebral ischemia), and it is believed also that apoptosis is an important mode of cell death in these disorders. Membrane lipid peroxidation has been documented in the brain regions affected in these disorders as well as in cell culture and in vivo models. We now provide evidence that 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), an aldehydic product of membrane lipid peroxidation, is a key mediator of neuronal apoptosis induced by oxidative stress. HNE induced apoptosis in PC12 cells and primary rat hippocampal neurons. Oxidative insults (FeSO4 and amyloid beta-peptide) induced lipid peroxidation, cellular accumulation of HNE, and apoptosis. Bcl-2 prevented apoptosis of PC12 cells induced by oxidative stress and HNE. Antioxidants that suppress lipid peroxidation protected against apoptosis induced by oxidative insults, but not that induced by HNE. Glutathione, which binds HNE, protected neurons against apoptosis induced by oxidative stress and HNE. PC12 cells expressing Bcl-2 exhibited higher levels of glutathione and lower levels of HNE after oxidative stress. Collectively, the data identify that HNE is a novel nonprotein mediator of oxidative stress-induced neuronal apoptosis and suggest that the antiapoptotic action of glutathione may involve detoxification of HNE.
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PMID:Evidence that 4-hydroxynonenal mediates oxidative stress-induced neuronal apoptosis. 918 46

Oxidative stress appears to contribute to neuronal dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease and other CNS neurodegenerative disorders. This investigation examined if oxidative stress might contribute to impairments in cholinergic receptor-linked signaling systems and if intracellular glutathione levels modulated responses to oxidative stress. To do this the activation of the AP-1 and NF-kappaB transcription factors and of the phosphoinositide second-messenger system was measured in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells after exposure to the oxidants H2O2 or diamide, with or without prior depletion of cellular glutathione. H2O2 concentration-dependently inhibited carbachol-stimulated AP-1 activation and this inhibition was potentiated in glutathione-depleted cells. Carbachol-stimulated NF-kappaB activation was unaffected by H2O2 unless glutathione was depleted, in which case there was a H2O2 concentration-dependent inhibition. Glutathione depletion also potentiated the inhibition by H2O2 of carbachol- or G-protein (NaF)-stimulated phosphoinositide hydrolysis, whereas phospholipase C activated by the calcium ionophore ionomycin was not inhibited. The thiol-oxidizing agent diamide also inhibited phosphoinositide hydrolysis stimulated by carbachol or NaF, and glutathione depletion potentiated the diamide concentration-dependent inhibition. Unlike H2O2, diamide also inhibited ionomycin-stimulated phosphoinositide hydrolysis. Activation of both AP-1 and NF-kappaB stimulated by carbachol was inhibited by diamide, and glutathione depletion potentiated the inhibitory effects of diamide. Thus, diamide inhibited a wider range of signaling processes than did H2O2, but glutathione depletion increased the susceptibility of phosphoinositide hydrolysis and of transcription factor activation to inhibition by both H2O2 and diamide. These results demonstrate that the vulnerability of signaling systems to oxidative stress is influenced by intracellular glutathione levels, indicating that cell-selective susceptibility to inhibition of signal transduction systems by oxidative stress can arise from cellular variations in antioxidant capacity.
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PMID:Glutathione depletion exacerbates impairment by oxidative stress of phosphoinositide hydrolysis, AP-1, and NF-kappaB activation by cholinergic stimulation. 947 71

Peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), particularly arachidonic acid, leads to the generation of reactive aldehydes, including 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE). Recent studies have demonstrated an increase in lipid peroxidation, a decline in PUFA, as well as an increase in HNE, and a decrease in glutathione transferase (GST) in the brain in Alzheimer's disease. Four-hydroxynonenal is toxic to cultured neurons and to the brain of experimental animals. Although glutathione (GSH) has been shown to offer protection against HNE, no enzymatic system has been described which serves to detoxify these reactive species in neuronal cultures. Here, we describe the use of GST in the protection of neuronal cultures against HNE toxicity. Glutathione transferases are a superfamily of enzymes functioning to catalyze the nucleophilic attack of GSH on electrophilic groups on a second substrate. These enzymes function efficiently with 4-hydroxyalkenals, particularly HNE, as substrates. To investigate the protective effects of GST against HNE, primary hippocampal cultures were pretreated with GST before exposure to toxic doses of HNE which led to a statistically significant enhancement in cell survival. Pretreatment of cultures with equivalent levels of heat inactivated GST or antibody against GST did not offer protection against HNE. Control cultures pretreated with GST also demonstrated enhanced survival compared with control cells receiving no pretreatment. These data suggest that GST may be an important source of protection against the toxic effects of HNE.
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PMID:Glutathione transferase protects neuronal cultures against four hydroxynonenal toxicity. 984 Jul 44

Glutathione deficiency has been associated with a number of neurodegenerative diseases including Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's disease, and HIV. A crucial role for glutathione is as a free radical scavenger. Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain is characterized by oxidative stress, manifested by protein oxidation, lipid oxidation, oxidized glutathione, and decreased activity of glutathione S-transferase, among others. Reasoning that elevated levels of endogenous glutathione would offer protection against free radical-induced oxidative stress, rodents were given in vivo injections of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a known precursor of glutathione, to study the vulnerability of isolated synaptosomal membranes treated with Fe2+/H2O2, a known hydroxyl free radical producer. Protein carbonyls, a marker of protein oxidation, were measured. NAC significantly increased endogenous glutathione levels in cortical synaptosome cytosol (P < 0.01). As reported previously, protein carbonyl levels of the Fe2+/H2O2-treated synaptosomes were significantly higher compared to that of non-treated controls (P < 0.01), consistent with increased oxidative stress. In contrast, protein carbonyl levels in Fe2+/H2O2-treated synaptosomes isolated from NAC-injected animals were not significantly different from saline-injected non-treated controls, demonstrating protection against hydroxyl radical induced oxidative stress. These results are consistent with the notion that methods to increase endogenous glutathione levels in neurodegenerative diseases associated with oxidative stress, including AD, may be promising.
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PMID:In-vivo glutathione elevation protects against hydroxyl free radical-induced protein oxidation in rat brain. 1067 51

There is significant evidence that the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Friedreich's ataxia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, may involve the generation of reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial dysfunction. Here, we review the evidence for a disturbance of glutathione homeostasis that may either lead to or result from oxidative stress in neurodegenerative disorders. Glutathione is an important intracellular antioxidant that protects against a variety of different antioxidant species. An important role for glutathione was proposed for the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease, because a decrease in total glutathione concentrations in the substantia nigra has been observed in preclinical stages, at a time at which other biochemical changes are not yet detectable. Because glutathione does not cross the blood-brain barrier other treatment options to increase brain concentrations of glutathione including glutathione analogs, mimetics or precursors are discussed.
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PMID:Glutathione, oxidative stress and neurodegeneration. 1093 Nov 72

Antibodies against APP, a precursor of Abeta deposited in Alzheimer's disease brain, have been shown to cause neuronal death. Therefore, it is important to determine whether Abeta mediates antibody-induced neurotoxicity. When primary neurons were treated with anti-APP antibodies, Abeta40 and Abeta42 in the cultured media were undetectable by an assay capable of detecting 100 nM Abeta peptides. However, exogenously treated Abeta1-42 or Abeta1-43 required >3 microM to exert neurotoxicity, and 25 microM Abeta1-40 was not neurotoxic. Glutathione-ethyl-ester inhibited neuronal death by anti-APP antibody, but not death by Abeta1-42, whereas serum attenuated toxicity by Abeta1-42, but not by anti-APP antibody. Using immortalized neuronal cells, we specified the domain responsible for toxicity to be cytoplasmic His(657)-Lys(676), but not the Abeta1-42 region, of APP. This indicates that neuronal cell death by anti-APP antibody is not mediated by secreted Abeta.
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PMID:Secreted Abeta does not mediate neurotoxicity by antibody-stimulated amyloid precursor protein. 1140 95


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