Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0086543 (cataract)
 29,165 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effect of (1-benzoyl-1H-indazol-3-yl)oxylacetate L-Lysine (bendazac-lysine) on some enzymatic activities involved in the metabolism of reduced glutathione (GSH) was studied in the rabbit lens during developing cataract induced by a single dose of X-rays (2000 rads). The specific activities of glutathione reductase (G.R.), glutathione peroxidase (GSH.Px) and glutathione S-transferase (GSHS-tr.) do not change following irradiation and treatment with bendazac-lysine. The activity of the same enzymes expressed as a function of water soluble proteins (WSP) per lens significantly decreases (P less than 0.01) as compared to controls in the irradiated lens not treated with bendazac-lysine (ILNTB) at the 8th week, whereas no significant decrease as compared to controls is observed in the irradiated lens treated with bendazac-lysine (ILTB). In the ILNTB the specific activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) is reduced by 10% after 0.3 weeks and by 29% after 12 weeks. In the ILTB the specific activity of G6PDH is reduced by 8% after 0.3 weeks and by 14.5% after 12 weeks. The specific activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the ILNTB is reduced by 19% after 0.3 weeks and reached 31% after 12 weeks. In the ILTB the specific activity of SOD is reduced by 11% after 0.3 weeks and 19.8% after 12 weeks. The mechanism of protective effect of bendazac-lysine on cataract is discussed.
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PMID:Effects of bendazac L-lysine salt on some metabolic enzymes of glutathione in the rabbit lens after X-irradiation. 361 May 98

Glutathione reductase (GR) activity was measured with and without the addition of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) in freshly excised human lens epithelium following cataract surgery, and in control eye bank lens epithelium. Large individual variations in activity were found in both groups. Out of 32 epithelia obtained from cataractous lenses, 14 showed no measurable GR activity. Activity in eight of these 14 epithelia was restored after FAD was added, implying that the apo-enzyme in these 8 epithelia was functional but FAD was not available. Another group of 8 active epithelia showed a significant increase in GR activity upon the addition of FAD, suggesting a mixed population of active enzyme and available fraction of apo-enzyme which was reactivated by the addition of FAD. Unusually high GR activities were observed in epithelia of several patients. This correlated principally with daily intake of thyroxine which is known to have a direct effect on the metabolism of riboflavin. The fact that in a significant number of cataract patients epithelial GR was not active, and the observation that activity could be restored by adding in vitro FAD, demands that more attention should be given to riboflavin nutritional status and FAD synthesis in the eye.
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PMID:Glutathione reductase in human lens epithelium: FAD-induced in vitro activation. 367 85

The disposition and disposal of the -SH groups of the lens during aging and cataractogenesis have been investigated by laser Raman spectroscopy as a noninvasive microprobe in the intact living lens. In this procedure -SH and -S-S- give unique discrete Raman signals (at 2580 and 508 cm-1) that may be used to calculate relative concentrations in a very small volume of the lens. We present evidence showing an unexpected and remarkable difference with respect to these groups between the mouse lens and the lenses of guinea pig and man. The mouse lens nucleus exhibits a precipitous fall in the -SH concentration on aging from 1 to 6 months; concomitantly, there is a rise in -S-S- of comparable magnitude, indicating a direct conversion. The guinea pig lens, however, is quite different with respect to the age-dependent change in nuclear -S-S-: there is none between 6 months and 5 years. In the human lens -S-S- behaves exactly as in the guinea pig lens: the level is low and does not change with age between 9 and 65 years. With respect to nuclear -SH, these two latter species of lenses show some decrease with age but nothing like the approach to zero found in the aging mouse lens nucleus. These differences involving lenticular -SH and -S-S- appear to be correlated with the hard nucleus in the mouse lens and the softer nuclei of lenses in guinea pigs and humans. The relatively high level of -S-S- in the old but clear mouse lens does not support the idea that protein aggregation involving formation of intermolecular -S-S- bonds is necessarily an important cause of nuclear cataract. The small but significant age-related depression of -SH in guinea pig lens nuclei without any accumulation of -S-S- may be explained as a result of glutathione (GSH) oxidation and subsequent extrusion of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) by the lens. We propose that the oxidation of glutathione proceeds by reaction with protein disulfide groups to yield protein sulfhydryl (PSH) and a mixed disulfide of glutathione and protein; the mixed disulfide is capable of being reduced by glutathione reductase and NADPH, yielding the original PSH and GSSG, which is extruded from the lens. It remains to be determined if this mechanism is more active in guinea pig and human lenses than in the mouse lens.
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PMID:Disulfide bond formation in the eye lens. 386 9

The specific activities of glutathione reductase (GR), EC 1.6.4.2, and aldolase, (ALD) EC 4.1.2.13, were determined in the homogenates of 60 cataractous lenses. Concentrations of certain plasma constituents and the morphological types of cataract of the patients were known. Investigations were aimed at establishing a possible correlation between enzyme activities and plasma constituents as well as between the specific activities of GR and ALD and type of cataract. A correlation between the specific activity of GR and the urea content of the blood could be identified. Results also indicated a relationship between the decrease in GR activity and the formation of cortical cataracts.
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PMID:Studies of lens enzyme activities in relation to cataract type and plasma constituents. 641 62

The mammalian lens contains an unusually high concentration of glutathione (GSH), the highest level being in the epithelium. GSH is present largely in the reduced state. The high concentration of GSH in a normal lens and the decreased concentration in most types of cataracts have led to many hypotheses on its role in cataract formation. These hypotheses are considered in the light of current evidence. GSH is synthesized and degraded in the lens. Both processes require ATP, derived largely from glycolysis. Carbohydrate metabolism is also involved in the maintenance of GSH in the reduced state. There is a direct link between the rate of formation of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and the stimulation of the hexose monophosphate shunt through the generation of NADPH. One possible function of GSH in the lens is to maintain the thiol (SH) groups of proteins in the reduced state, thus preventing formation of high molecular weight (HMW) protein aggregates. The formation of HMW proteins in X-ray-induced cataracts through disulphide bond formation and the involvement of SH oxidation in HMW proteins isolated from human cataractous lenses suggest a role for GSH in protecting protein SH groups. GSH in the lens may also protect critical SH groups involved in regulating cation transport and permeability. Studies with mammalian lenses indicate that lowering the lens GSH concentration leads to increased permeability to cations and inactivation of Na+,K+-ATPase. A consequence of the changes in ion distribution is the inhibition of protein synthesis, which may explain the cessation of growth in cataractous lenses. GSH may also protect against oxidative damage to the lens. GSH metabolism is intimately involved in detoxification of H2O2, normally present in the aqueous humour. Lenses with impaired shunt activity or inhibited glutathione reductase are more susceptible to oxidative damage by peroxide. This may contribute to the formation of cataract.
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PMID:Metabolism and function of glutathione in the lens. 656 81

Glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) show in bovine lenses a decrease in specific activity; furthermore, the heat lability of both enzymes increases with age monitoring structural changes of the molecules. GR activity was correlated with type of cataract in human lenses. Its decrease is significantly connected with cortical opacities. Superoxide dismutase activity declines in aging and cataractous lenses. These results support the assumption that in old lens tissue the capacity of the antioxidative scavanger system is diminished.
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PMID:Glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase in the aging lens. 669 Feb 14

Riboflavin status was studied in 156 older healthy people living at home in The Netherlands by assaying erythrocyte glutathione reductase (with and without FAD). The average activation coefficient of glutathione reductase was found to be 1.42 +/- 0.19. 7% of the population studied showed cataract (based on the eye examination). It seems that no correlation exists between cataract and riboflavin deficiency.
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PMID:Correlation between cataract and glutathione metabolism. 688 4

Lenticular reduced glutathione, diminished in all forms fo human cataract, requires flavin adenine dinucleotide as a coenzyme for glutathione reductase. Deficiency of riboflavin, a precursor of flavin adenine dinucleotide, has been believed by some to be associated with cataract formation. We evaluated the riboflavin nutritional status of healthy young adults, presenile and senile cataract patients, and young and older patients with clear lenses. We found no evidence of an association between riboflavin deficiency and early cataract formation, either idiopathic or secondary. Older cataract patients had more riboflavin deficiency. An absence of riboflavin deficiency was found in our older patients with clear lenses. The degree of riboflavin deficiency encountered in the general population does not appear to be cataractogenic.
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PMID:Cataracts and riboflavin deficiency. 723 15

We investigated the effect of alpha-lipoic acid, a powerful antioxidant, on cataract formation in L-buthionine(S,R)-sulfoximine (BSO)-treated newborn rats and found that a dose of 25 mg/kg b.w. protected 60% of animals from cataract formation. L-buthionine(S,R)-sulfoximine is an inhibitor of glutathione synthesis, whose administration to newborn animals leads to the development of cataracts; this is a potential model for studying the role of therapeutic antioxidants in protecting animals from cataract formation. Major biochemical changes in the lens associated with the protective effect of alpha-lipoic acid were increases in glutathione, ascorbate, and vitamin E levels, loss of which are effects of BSO administration. Treatment with alpha-lipoic acid also restored the activities of glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and ascorbate free radical reductase in lenses of L-buthionine(S,R)-sulfoximine-treated animals but did not affect glutathione reductase or superoxide dismutase activity. We conclude that alpha-lipoic acid may take over some of the functions of glutathione (e.g., maintaining the higher level of ascorbate, indirect participation in vitamin E recycling); the increase of glutathione level in lens tissue mediated by lipoate could be also due to a direct protection of protein thiols. Thus, alpha-lipoic acid could be of potential therapeutic use in preventing cataracts and their complications.
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PMID:Alpha-lipoic acid prevents buthionine sulfoximine-induced cataract formation in newborn rats. 775 Aug 5

The distribution of glutathione reductase activity in concentric layers from the lens has been determined as a function of age for 16 species. Primate lenses have almost ten times the level of glutathione reductase found in other species. Comparison with the activity of hexokinase revealed that this is not due to a higher overall rate of metabolism in these lenses. By contrast, the higher activity found in bird and fish lenses reflects a higher metabolic activity in these tissues. In all species, a gradient of activity was observed with the highest specific activity in the outermost cortical fibres, decreasing to virtually no activity in the inner parts of the tissue. No alterations were found in this gradient with increasing age, other than an increase in the amount of nuclear tissue essentially devoid of activity. The maximum activity in the outer cortical fibres was the same, regardless of the age of the lens. The time taken, in different species, for the specific activity to decrease by half, was estimated from the rate of protein accumulation. This time was found to vary from a few days to several years, indicating that the decrease in activity is not due to ageing but rather, it is related to the maturation of fibre cells. These observations are discussed in terms of current concepts of lens ageing and cataract formation.
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PMID:Ageing of glutathione reductase in the lens. 783 1


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