Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
1996-12-12
pubmed:abstractText
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal paralytic disorder of unknown cause. Recent evidence implicated the role of free radicals in the death of motor neurons in this disease. To investigate this hypothesis further, we measured the activity of the main free radical scavenging enzymes copper/zinc superoxide dismutase, manganese superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase in postmortem brain samples from 9 patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and from 9 control subjects. We examined samples from the precentral gyrus of the cerebral cortex, a region affected in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and from the cerebellar cortex, a region not affected. The two groups did not differ in age or postmortem delay. In the precentral gyrus from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis samples, glutathione peroxidase activity as measured by spectrophotometric assay (13.8 +/- 2.6 nmol/min/mg protein [mean +/- standard error of mean]) was reduced significantly compared to the activity in the precentral gyrus from control samples (22.7 +/- 0.5 nmol/min/mg protein). In contrast, glutathione peroxidase activity was not significantly altered in the cerebellar cortex from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients compared to controls. Copper/zinc superoxide dismutase, manganese superoxide dismutase (corrected or not corrected for citrate synthase), and catalase were not significantly altered in the precentral gyrus or cerebellar cortex in the patient samples. This study indicated that glutathione peroxidase activity is reduced in a brain region affected in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, thus suggesting that free radicals may be implicated in the pathogenesis of the disease.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0364-5134
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
39
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
158-65
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1996
pubmed:articleTitle
Brain superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article