title: Increased formation of reactive oxygen species, but no changes in glutathione peroxidase activity, in striata of mice transgenic for the Huntington's disease mutation.
abstract: The formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the activities of the antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) were measured as a function of age in the striatum of mice transgenic for the Huntington's disease (HD) mutation. Striata from R6/1 transgenic male mice were dissected at different ages (11, 19, and 35 weeks). The amount of dichlorofluorescein (DCF), an index of ROS formation, was significantly increased in R6/1 mice at all ages tested, whereas GPx activity remained unchanged when compared with wild-type control animals in all groups evaluated. CAT activity was very low, just above detection in the striata of both control and transgenic mice. Nineteen and 35-week-old R6/1 mice also developed feet clasping behavior, but only 35-week-old animals showed body weight loss. Our findings support an active role of free radicals in the onset and progression of the neurological phenotype of R6/1 mice. We suggest that changes in ROS formation are due to an age-related increased propensity of the striatum of transgenic animals to generate oxygen radicals as a response to the evolving pathological conditions.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neuroquímica, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez S.S.A., México.
authors.forename: Francisca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pérez-Severiano
authors.forename: Abel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santamaría
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pedraza-Chaverri
authors.forename: Omar N
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Medina-Campos
authors.forename: Camilo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ríos
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Segovia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism*; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species
chemical_list: D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase