Elevated activity of phospholipid biosynthetic enzymes in substantia nigra of patients with Parkinson's disease.

We reported that the activities of phospholipase A2, phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase and phosphoethanolamine cytidylyltransferase, key phospholipid metabolic enzymes, are low in substantia nigra of normal human brain and that this might reduce the ability of nigral neurons to repair damage to cell membranes. To determine whether adaptive changes in nigral phospholipid metabolism can occur in idiopathic Parkinson's disease we compared activities of 11 catabolic and anabolic enzymes in autopsied brain of 10 patients with Parkinson's disease to those in control subjects. Nigral activity of the catabolic enzyme phospholipase A2 was normal in the Parkinson's disease group, whereas that of the biosynthetic enzymes phosphoethanolamine cytidylyltransferase, phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase, and phosphatidylserine synthase were elevated 193, 48 and 38%, respectively, possibly representing a compensatory response to repair membrane phospholipids. Enzyme activities were normal in all other brain areas with the exception of increased (+26%) activity of calcium-stimulated phospholipase A2 in putamen, a change which could be consequent to either decreased dopaminergic striatal input or to a dopamine nerve terminal degenerative process. Our data indicate that the normally low rate of membrane phospholipid synthesis in the substantia nigra, the primary area of neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease, is increased during the course of the disorder. We suggest that pharmacotherapies which augment this compensatory response might have utility as a treatment for Parkinson's disease.

Dopamine D1 receptor protein is elevated in nucleus accumbens of human, chronic methamphetamine users.

Animal data have long suggested that an adaptive upregulation of nucleus accumbens dopamine D1 receptor function might underlie part of the dependency on drugs of abuse. We measured by quantitative immunoblotting protein levels of dopamine D1 and, for comparison, D2 receptors in brain of chronic users of methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin. As compared with the controls, brain dopamine D1 receptor concentrations were selectively increased (by 44%) in the nucleus accumbens of the methamphetamine users, whereas a trend was observed in this brain area for reduced protein levels of the dopamine D2 receptor in all three drug groups (-25 to -37%; P < 0.05 for heroin group only). Our data support the hypothesis that aspects of the drug-dependent state in human methamphetamine users might be related to increased dopamine D1 receptor function in limbic brain.

Abnormal activity of membrane phospholipid synthetic enzymes in the brain of patients with Friedreich's ataxia and spinocerebellar atrophy type-1.

Much evidence, derived from biochemical studies of both blood and autopsied brain, has suggested that phospholipid metabolism is abnormal in patients with Friedreich's ataxia (FA), a disorder characterized by severe neuronal loss in the spinal cord and lower brain stem with no, or only modest, damage in other brain regions. To establish the cause of our recent finding of reduced brain levels of phospholipids in FA, we assayed activities of 10 phospholipid-metabolizing enzymes in the autopsied cerebellar cortex of patients with the disorder and, for comparison, in a group of patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA-1), a disease characterized, unlike FA, by marked neuronal loss in the cerebellar cortex. Enzyme activities were also measured in four brain areas which are relatively unaffected morphologically in both FA and SCA-1. We found that ethanolamine kinase activity was increased in multiple brain regions of patients with FA (increased 31%-137%) and, more modestly, in SCA-1 (increased 39%-60%), suggesting a nonspecific enhancement of phosphoethanolamine production in both disorders. In contrast, the activity of phosphoethanolamine cytidylyltransferase (PECT), the rate-limiting enzyme of phosphatidylethanolamine synthesis, was significantly and markedly decreased by 35%-78% in the cerebellar, frontal, and occipital cortices of patients with FA but was normal in SCA-1. Reduced PECT activity in FA may explain the lower brain levels of phosphatidylethanolamine in the disorder. Moreover, because decreased PECT activity in FA occurs in brain regions having no, or only modest, morphologic damage, this may represent a systemic change consequent to the frataxin gene defect. Our data also suggest that therapeutic intervention in FA designed to increase synthesis of membrane phospholipids may warrant further investigation.

Differential alteration of phospholipase A2 activities in brain of patients with schizophrenia.

We recently reported that the activity of a calcium-independent subtype of phospholipase A2 is increased in blood of patients with schizophrenia. The present investigation examined whether similar changes take place in brain of patients with this disorder, and for comparison, in patients with bipolar disorder. The activity of two classes of PLA2, calcium-stimulated and independent, were assayed in autopsied temporal, prefrontal and occipital cortices, putamen, hippocampus and thalamus of 10 patients with schizophrenia, 8 patients with bipolar disorder and 12 matched control subjects. Calcium-independent PLA2 activity was increased by 45% in the temporal cortex of patients with schizophrenia as compared with the controls but was not significantly altered in other brain areas. In contrast, calcium-stimulated PLA2 activity was decreased by 27-42% in the temporal and prefrontal cortices and putamen, with no significant alterations in other brain regions. Brain PLA2 activity was normal in patients with bipolar disorder. Calcium-stimulated PLA2 activity was normal in cortex, cerebellum and striatum of rats treated acutely or chronically with haloperidol, whereas calcium-independent PLA2 activity was decreased in striatum of chronically treated animals, indicating that altered PLA2 activity in patients with schizophrenia is unlikely to be a direct effect of medication. Studies of the cellular role played by PLA2 suggest that decreased calcium-stimulated PLA2 activity, as also occurs in striatum of chronic human cocaine users, may be due, in part, to increased dopaminergic activity in the disorder, whereas increased calcium-independent PLA2 activity may be related to abnormal fatty acid metabolism and oxidative stress in schizophrenia.

Rat striatal levels of the antioxidant glutathione are decreased following binge administration of methamphetamine.

Involvement of the glutathione antioxidant system is a characteristic feature of oxidative stress. We examined the influence of binge (4 x 20 mg/kg every 5 h) and chronic daily (20 mg/kg per day for 10 days) administration of methamphetamine (MA) on brain levels of total glutathione and major glutathione-related enzymes (glutathione peroxidase and reductase; gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase; glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) in the rat. Binge, but not chronic MA administration was associated with a regionally specific reduction (-17%, P < 0.05) in striatal levels of glutathione 3 h after the last dose of MA, whereas striatal levels of the glutathione-related enzymes were normal. Although the magnitude of the reduction was only modest, these data are compatible with a more severe glutathione decrease localized to dopamine/serotonin nerve terminal areas. Our observations provide further evidence in support of the oxidative stress hypothesis of MA neurotoxicity and indirectly suggest that drugs designed to increase glutathione might protect against such damage.

Low activity of key phospholipid catabolic and anabolic enzymes in human substantia nigra: possible implications for Parkinson's disease.

To determine whether increased oxidative stress in substantia nigra of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease might be related to decreased ability of nigral cells to detoxify oxidized membrane phospholipids, we compared levels of the major phospholipid metabolizing enzymes in autopsied substantia nigra with those in non-nigral (n = 11) brain areas of the normal human brain. Whereas most enzymes possessed a relatively homogeneous distribution, the activity of the major phospholipid catabolizing enzyme phospholipase A2, assayed in the presence of calcium ions, varied amongst different regions, with substantia nigra possessing the lowest activity. Similarly, calcium-independent phospholipase A2 activity, although possessing a relatively homogeneous regional distribution, was also low in the substantia nigra. This, coupled with low activity of phosphoethanolamine- and phosphocholine-cytidylyltransferases, major regulatory enzymes of phospholipid synthesis, in this brain region, suggest that the rate of phospholipid turnover is low in the substantia nigra. Low activity of key phospholipid catabolic and anabolic enzymes in human substantia nigra might result in reduced ability to repair oxidative membrane damage, as may occur in Parkinson's disease.

Phospholipid-metabolizing enzymes in Alzheimer's disease: increased lysophospholipid acyltransferase activity and decreased phospholipase A2 activity.

Damage to brain membrane phospholipids may play an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, the critical metabolic processes responsible for the generation and repair of membrane phospholipids affected by the disease are unknown. We measured the activity of key phospholipid catabolic and anabolic enzymes in morphologically affected and spared areas of autopsied brain of patients with AD and in matched control subjects. The activity of the major catabolic enzyme phospholipase A2 (PLA2), measured in both the presence and absence of Ca2+, was significantly decreased (-35 to -53%) in parietal and temporal cortices of patients with AD. In contrast, the activities of lysophospholipid acyltransferase, which recycles lysophospholipids into intact phospholipids, and glycerophosphocholine phosphodiesterase, which returns phospholipid catabolites to be used in phospholipid resynthesis, were increased by approximately 50-70% in the same brain areas. Brain activities of enzymes involved in de novo phospholipid synthesis (ethanolamine kinase, choline kinase, choline phosphotransferase, phosphoethanolamine cytidylyltransferase, and phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase) were either normal or only slightly altered. The activities of PLA2 and acyltransferase were normal in the degenerating cerebellum of patients with spinocerebellar atrophy type 1, whereas the activity of glycerophosphocholine phosphodiesterase was reduced, suggesting that the alterations in AD brain were not nonspecific consequences of neurodegeneration. Our data suggest that compensatory phospholipid metabolic changes are present in AD brain that reduce the rate of phospholipid loss via both decreased catabolism (PLA2) and increased phospholipid resynthesis (acyltransferase and glycerophosphocholine phosphodiesterase).

Phospholipid biosynthetic enzymes in human brain.

Growing evidence suggests an involvement of brain membrane phospholipid metabolism in a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric conditions. This has prompted the use of drugs (e.g., CDPcholine) aimed at elevating the rate of neural membrane synthesis. However, no information is available regarding the human brain enzymes of phospholipid synthesis which these drugs affect. Thus, the objective of our study was to characterize the enzymes involved, in particular, whether differences existed in the relative affinity of substrates for the enzymes of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) compared to those of phosphatidylcholine (PC) synthesis. The concentration of choline in rapidly frozen human brain biopsies ranged from 32-186 nmol/g tissue, a concentration similar to that determined previously for ethanolamine. Since human brain ethanolamine kinase possessed a much lower affinity for ethanolamine (Km = 460 microM) than choline kinase did for choline (Km = 17 microM), the activity of ethanolamine kinase in vivo may be more dependent on substrate availability than that of choline kinase. In addition, whereas ethanolamine kinase was inhibited by choline, and to a lesser extent by phosphocholine, choline kinase activity was unaffected by the presence of ethanolamine, or phosphoethanolamine, and only weakly inhibited by phosphocholine. Phosphoethanolamine cytidylyltransferase (PECT) and phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (PCCT) also displayed dissimilar characteristics, with PECT and PCCT being located predominantly in the cytosolic and particulate fractions, respectively. Both PECT and PCCT exhibited a low affinity for CTP (Km approximately 1.2 mM), suggesting that the activities of these enzymes, and by implication, the rate of phospholipid synthesis, are highly dependent upon the cellular concentration of CTP. In conclusion our data indicate different regulatory properties of PE and PC synthesis in human brain, and suggest that the rate of PE synthesis may be more dependent upon substrate (ethanolamine) availability than that of PC synthesis.

Phospholipase A2 activity is selectively decreased in the striatum of chronic cocaine users.

Dopamine-mediated stimulation of arachidonic acid metabolism, via activation of the phospholipid metabolizing enzyme phospholipase A2 (PLA2), has recently been implicated in dopamine neurotransmitter function. We examined the status of PLA2 in autopsied brain of 10 chronic users of cocaine, a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. PLA2 activity, assayed at pH 8.5 in the presence of Ca2+, was significantly (p < 0.01) decreased by 31% in the putamen of cocaine users (n = 10) compared with that in controls (n = 10), whereas activity was normal in the frontal and occipital cortices, subcortical white matter, and cerebellum. In contrast, calcium-independent PLA2 activity, assayed at pH 7.0, was normal in all brain regions examined. Our finding of altered PLA2 activity restricted to a region of high dopamine receptor density suggests that modulation of PLA2 may be involved in mediating some of the dopamine-related behavioral effects of cocaine and could conceivably contribute to dopamine-related processes in the normal brain.

Lactate solid-state biosensor with multilayer of electrodeposited polymers for flow-injection clinical analysis.

In the lactate biosensor, electrodeposited poly(o-phenylenediamine) serves as a convenient matrix for the immobilization of lactate oxidase, but does not provide sufficient discrimination from several interfering species present in physiological fluids. Their effect, however, can be eliminated by additional modification of the working Pt electrode with a bilayer of electrodeposited polypyrrole/polyphenol. Despite continued decrease in biosensor sensitivity, the newly developed three-layer solid-state biosensor was successfully applied in flow-injection determination of lactate in both undiluted and diluted human blood serum samples over a 10 day period. For the lactate concentration range 0.2-5.0 mM in several series of measurements the correlation coefficient values for comparison with photometric determination using a DuPont dimension clinical analyzer were between 0.96 and 0.99. The reproducibility measured for 1:10 diluted serum was 0.6%. The detection limit was estimated as 2 microM.

Generation and characterization of antibodies to adhesion-related molecules of retinal pigment epithelial cells.

We have generated antisera to pig retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and to their fractionated membrane proteins. The antisera have been screened functionally by adhesion inhibition assays, and morphologically with immunofluorescence microscopy of cultured cells and frozen sections of the retina. From these sera, we have affinity purified five monospecific antibodies to the RPE surface molecules having molecular weights of 220, 180, 110, 85 and 70 kDa, which effectively inhibit cell-substratum attachment. The 220 and 85 kDa antigens are localized to focal contacts of the cultured cells and are seen in patches in the intact RPE layer in frozen sections of eye tissues. Immunofluorescence microscopy shows that the 180, 110 and 70 kDa antigens localize predominantly to cell-cell junctions. Hence, these antigens may participate in both cell-cell and cell-substratum adhesion in RPE cells. Staining patterns obtained with confocal microscopy of frozen sections of the retina demonstrate that these antibodies are RPE-specific. These adhesion-related molecules may play a role in maintenance of the morphological and functional integrity of RPE.

Involvement of non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases in expression of differentiated phenotype by cells of retinal origin.

Regulation of phenotypic expression in epithelia in general, and of two epithelia of the retina, the neural retina and retinal pigment epithelium in particular, is dependent on interactions with extracellular environment. Extracellular environment may comprise acellular substrata as well as other cells. Non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases are involved in transmembrane transmission of signals from extracellular milieu, via the cytoskeleton to the nucleus. We describe distribution of these kinases in cells of retinal origin and show that two of them, pp125FAK and pp60c-src redistribute intracellularly in a differentiation-dependent manner. Next we discuss roles that adhesion-related non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases might play in phenotypic expression by the retinal epithelia.

Regulation of adhesion-related protein tyrosine kinases during in vitro differentiation of retinal pigment epithelial cells: translocation of pp60c-src to the nucleus is accompanied by downregulation of pp125FAK.

In the present report we show that induction of expression of a differentiated phenotype in cultured retinal pigmented epithelium of chick embryo is accompanied by coordinate regulation of expression and distribution of two adhesion-related nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinases, pp60c-src and pp125FAK. pp60c-src translocates from the cell surface in flat undifferentiated cells to the nucleus in the packed differentiated cells. In contrast, pp125FAK, abundant in focal adhesions of flat undifferentiated cells, is downregulated in cells that have differentiated and packed into an epithelial sheet.

Hypouricemia due to increased tubular secretion of urate in children with Amanita phalloides poisoning.

The tubular transport of urate was studied in 20 children poisoned with Amanita phalloides and in control group. The aim of this study was to investigate the cause of repeatedly observed episodes of hypouricemia in patients after A. phalloides poisoning. A significant negative correlation between serum uric acid concentration and fractional excretion of urate in poisoned and control groups (r = 0.73, p < 0.001) was found. The results of pyrazinamide and probenecid tests performed in patients after A. phalloides poisoning indicated that hyperuricosuria was most likely due to an increment in renal tubular urate secretion, and not due to decreased presecretory and postsecretory reabsorption of uric acid. These findings indicate that hypouricemia found after A. phalloides poisoning in children is of renal origin due to an increase in tubular urate secretion.

Congenital lactic acidosis in children--differential diagnosis in 44 cases.

The purpose of the study was differential diagnosis of lactic acidosis in 44 children aged from 2 weeks to 4 years. In all of them the lactate level in repeated determinations exceeded 27 mg/100 ml. From the point of view of clinical manifestations the children were divided into three groups: 26 with hepatomegaly and hypoglycaemia (I), 6 with ataxia and retardation of somatic development (II), 12 with mental retardation and muscular hypotonia (III). Together with basic biochemical studies other tests were done, if necessary, including glucose and alanine loading, lactate determination in cerebrospinal fluid, analysis of urinary organic acids by the GC-MS method, morphological examinations of muscle biopsy material, enzymatic determinations in liver biopsy material. In group I glycogenosis was suspected and its type was finally established after biochemical and enzymatic tests (types I, Ib, III, VI, VIa, XI). In one case fructose-1,6-diphosphatase deficiency was suspected. In group II the clinical manifestations resembled Leigh's syndrome. The tests demonstrated an inhibition of glucose formation from alanine, and lactate level in the cerebrospinal fluid was evidently raised above that in the serum. Gasometric index showed the presence of respiratory alkalosis with metabolic compensation rather than primary lactate acidosis. In group III, with considerable clinical variety of signs, in only nine out of 12 children the cause of lactate acidosis could have been established (pathological changes of mitochondria in 4 cases, secondary increase of lactate without pathogenetic importance in 4, and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric acidosis in 1 case. In conclusion it is thought that this combination of diagnostic methods is useful in differential diagnosis of congenital lactate acidosis in children.

Asymptomatic decreased activities of hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase and glycogen phosphorylase in a number of children with chronic liver disease.

The evaluation of hepatic degradation of glycogen in patients with different chronic liver diseases was carried out on the basis of: a) specific activities of hepatic enzymes involved in catabolism of glycogen; b) level of glycogen in liver biopsies; c) concentration of glucose and cAMP in serum after the intravenous administration of glucagon. In 13 out of 35 patients investigated the activity of glucose-6-phosphatase was decreased to 14-50% of the control value. In the livers of 3 patients glycogen phosphorylase activity was decreased to 10% of the control value. In patients with the significantly low activities of hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase and phosphorylase a, however, normal catabolism of glycogen in the liver was observed, neither hypoglycemia nor abnormal glycogen storage in liver biopsies nor abnormal response to glucagon being found. In the group of patients with decreased and normal activities of glucose-6-phosphatase and phosphorylase a, biochemical parameters in the serum (i.e. markers of liver damage) were not detectable. Possible causes of the selective and asymptomatic decrease in the activities of glucose-6-phosphatase and phosphorylase a are discussed.