Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease : brain levels of glutathione, glutathione disulfide, and vitamin E

Human brain levels of glutathione (GSH), glutathione disulfide (GSSG), and vitamin E were measured in neurologically normal control patients and two groups of patients with neurodegeneration: those with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and AD with some features of Parkinson's disease (AD-PD). Con...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular and chemical neuropathology 1991-06, Vol.14 (3), p.213-226
Main Authors: ADAMS, J. D, KLAIDMAN, L. K, ODUNZE, I. N, SHEN, H. C, MILLER, C. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Alzheimer Disease - metabolism
Alzheimer Disease - pathology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - metabolism
Brain - pathology
Glutathione - analogs & derivatives
Glutathione - metabolism
Glutathione Disulfide
Humans
Medical sciences
Neurology
Parkinson Disease - metabolism
Parkinson Disease - pathology
Vitamin E - metabolism
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Summary:Human brain levels of glutathione (GSH), glutathione disulfide (GSSG), and vitamin E were measured in neurologically normal control patients and two groups of patients with neurodegeneration: those with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and AD with some features of Parkinson's disease (AD-PD). Control brain samples contained GSH levels more than 50 times higher than GSSG. The levels of GSH were highest in the caudate nucleus and lowest in the medulla. In patients with AD or AD-PD, hippocampal levels of GSH were significantly higher than controls. Patients with AD also demonstrated high GSH levels in the midbrain compared to normal. In contrast, patients with AD-PD did not have significantly elevated GSH levels in this site. GSSG levels were not significantly different in any brain region between controls and diseased patients. In control brains, the medulla had higher levels of vitamin E than any other brain region. The caudate nucleus had the lowest levels, which were about half the levels in the medulla. Control levels of vitamin E in the midbrain were about 18.8 micrograms/g. In AD patients the midbrain levels of vitamin E doubled to 42.3 micrograms/g. This doubling also occurred in AD-PD patients where midbrain vitamin E levels increased to 44.0 micrograms/g. These results may indicate that compensatory increases in GSH and vitamin E levels occur following damage to specific brain regions in patients with AD or AD-PD.
ISSN:1044-7393
2168-8729
DOI:10.1007/BF03159937