Evaluation of natural reductants protecting red blood cell membranes against oxidative damage in psoriatic patients.

OBJECTIVE: Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease and one of its main causes could be the oxidative stress. The use of natural reductants, in the treatment of several diseases, is well known but the effects of such treatments on the chronic psoriasis are not clear. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment with organic matrix, deriving from micro-flora, grown in shallow hyper thermal water tubs at Guardia Piemontese-Acquappesa (CS) Italy, in patients affected by moderate psoriasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study has been performed on 10 subjects with plaque psoriasis and on 10 healthy control subjects. Clinical severity of psoriasis was determined according to Psoriasis and Severity Index (PASI). The treatment efficacy was observed trough the evaluation of membrane fluidity, by fluorescence polarization, lipid peroxidation, anion permeability and haemolysis in red blood cells. RESULTS: After 12 days of patients' treatment, a significant reduction of PASI score was observed, this result is supported by a significant improvement of all studied parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The results, obtained by the evaluation of all studied parameters in patients treated with the organic matrix, are evidence of the efficacy of this treatment, according to PASI evaluation. Thus our results, suggest that this therapeutic line may be useful in the treatment of moderate psoriatic lesions and also in improving the life quality of psoriatic patients.

The 'glial' glutamate transporter, EAAT2 (Glt-1) accounts for high affinity glutamate uptake into adult rodent nerve endings.

The excitatory amino acid transporters (EAAT) removes neurotransmitters glutamate and aspartate from the synaptic cleft. Most CNS glutamate uptake is mediated by EAAT2 into glia, though nerve terminals show evidence for uptake, through an unknown transporter. Reverse-transcriptase PCR identified the expression of EAAT1, EAAT2, EAAT3 and EAAT4 mRNAs in primary cultures of mouse cortical or striatal neurones. We have used synaptosomes and glial plasmalemmal vesicles (GPV) from adult mouse and rat CNS to identify the nerve terminal transporter. Western blotting showed detectable levels of the transporters EAAT1 (GLAST) and EAAT2 (Glt-1) in both synaptosomes and GPVs. Uptake of [3H]D-aspartate or [3H]L-glutamate into these preparations revealed sodium-dependent uptake in GPV and synaptosomes which was inhibited by a range of EAAT blockers: dihydrokainate, serine-o-sulfate, l-trans-2,4-pyrrolidine dicarboxylate (PDC) (+/-)-threo-3-methylglutamate and (2S,4R )-4-methylglutamate. The IC50 values found for these compounds suggested functional expression of the 'glial, transporter, EAAT2 in nerve terminals. Additionally blockade of the majority EAAT2 uptake sites with 100 micro m dihydrokainate, failed to unmask any functional non-EAAT2 uptake sites. The data presented in this study indicate that EAAT2 is the predominant nerve terminal glutamate transporter in the adult rodent CNS.