title: Increased homocysteine, homocysteine-thiolactone, protein homocysteinylation and oxidative stress in the circulation of patients with Eales' disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Eales' disease (ED) is an idiopathic retinal vascular disorder. It presents with inflammation and neovascularization in the retina. Adult men, aged between 15 and 40 years are more susceptible than women. Homocysteine has been implicated in other ocular diseases including age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and optic neuropathy. The present study investigates the role of homocysteine in ED.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty male subjects, 20 with ED and 20 healthy controls, were recruited to the study. Their blood samples were used to measure thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), glutathione (GSH), homocysteine, homocysteine-thiolactone, extent of homocysteine conjugation with proteins and plasma copper concentration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the ED group, plasma homocysteine (18.6 ± 1.77 µmol/L, P < 0.001) and homocysteine-thiolactone (45.3 ± 6.8 nmol/L, P < 0.0001) concentrations were significantly higher compared to homocysteine (11.2 ± 0.64 µmol/L) and homocysteine-thiolactone (7.1 ± 0.94 nmol/L) concentrations in control subjects. TBARS (P < 0.011) and protein homocysteinylation (P < 0.030) were higher in the ED group while GSH (5.9 ± 0.44 µmol/L, P < 0.01) and copper (6.6 ± 0.42 µmol/L, P < 0.001) were lower compared to GSH (8.1 ± 0.41 µmol/L) and copper (15.4 ± 0.73 µmol/L) concentrations in control subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased homocysteine, and its metabolite thiolactone, is associated with the functional impairment of protein due to homocysteinylation in ED.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Vision Research Foundation, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India.
authors.forename: Muthuvel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bharathselvi
authors.forename: Jyothirmay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.forename: Radhakrishnan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Selvi
authors.forename: Karunakaran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Coral
authors.forename: Angayarkanni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Narayanasamy
authors.forename: Sivaramakrishnan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramakrishnan
authors.forename: Konerirajapuram N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Sulochana
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D031300:Retinal Vasculitis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D006710:Homocysteine; C007957:homocysteine thiolactone
keywords: Clinical studies; laboratory methods; statistics