title: Correlation between levels of pigment epithelium-derived factor and vascular endothelial growth factor in the striatum of patients with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Parkinson's disease (PD) is caused by progressive degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons and can potentially be treated by intrastriatal delivery of neurotrophic factors. Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), which exhibits protective effects on various neuronal populations, is up-/down-regulated in the cerebrospinal fluid in some neurodegenerative conditions. Here we investigated the level of PEDF protein in the striatum and immunoreactivity for PEDF in the substantia nigra (SN) of patients with PD to assess its role in the pathophysiology of PD. We also studied changes in PEDF expression in the striatum of the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse model of PD. We found a transient and rapid up-regulation of PEDF transcripts and a marked increase in immunoreactivity for PEDF protein in response to MPTP administration in mice. However, there were no significant changes in striatal levels of PEDF and immunoreactivity for PEDF in the SN of PD patients compared with age-matched non-PD patients. Intriguingly, the striatal levels of PEDF and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which has opposite functions to PEDF in terms of angiogenesis and vascular permeability, correlated positively in PD patients. Our results suggest up-regulation of PEDF in response to acute insult to the dopaminergic pathway, but such response might be disturbed in patients with advanced PD. The correlation between PEDF and VEGF striatal levels in PD patients suggests that concerted neurotrophic functions of these factors or structural changes in blood vessel walls play an important role in the pathophysiology of PD.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Diseases of Old Ages, Juntendo University, Japan.
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Momo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuda-Tani
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nihira
authors.forename: Keiichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Nobutaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Yoshikuni
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mochizuki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D015843:Serpins / Q000378:metabolism*; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism*; D000099174:Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor
chemical_list: D005136:Eye Proteins; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D015843:Serpins; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000099174:Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor; C467484:VEGFA protein, human