title: Reactive aldehyde-scavenging enzyme activities in atherosclerotic plaques of cigarette smokers and nonsmokers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate enzymatic reactive aldehyde-scavenging enzyme capacity together with lipid peroxidation as expression of oxidative stress in atherosclerotic plaques of cigarette smokers and nonsmokers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We have assessed specific enzymatic activities of class 1, 2, and 3 aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH1, ALDH2, and ALDH3, respectively), glutathione S-transferase (isozyme A4-4, GSTA4-4), and aldose reductase (AR), namely the major reactive aldehyde-scavenging enzymes, together with lipid peroxidation, i.e., fluorescent damage products of lipid peroxidation (FDPL), in carotid atherosclerotic plaques surgically removed from 17 cigarette smokers and 17 nonsmokers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The enzymatic activities of ALDH1 plus ALDH2, ALDH3, GSTA4-4, and AR were significantly lower in the atherosclerotic plaques of smokers than in those of nonsmokers, while plaque FDPL levels were significantly higher in the smokers than in the nonsmokers. The amount of cigarette smoking was correlated inversely with the aforementioned plaque enzymatic activities and directly with plaque FDPL content. Plaque FDPL levels were inversely correlated with plaque enzymatic activities in smokers and nonsmokers. The degree of carotid atherosclerotic stenosis, as expression of atherosclerosis severity, was correlated inversely with plaque enzymatic activities and directly with plaque FDPL levels in smokers and nonsmokers; moreover, the degree of carotid stenosis was directly correlated with the amount of cigarette smoking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  atherosclerotic lesions of cigarette smokers are endowed with a depressed enzymatic reactive aldehyde-scavenging capacity eventually favoring oxidative stress and the severity of atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina e Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Università degli Studi G. d'Annunzio Chieti Pescara, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, 66100 Chieti, Italy; Laboratorio di Fisiopatologia dello Stress Ossidativo, Centro di Scienze dell'Invecchiamento-Fondazione Università G. d'Annunzio, Università degli Studi G. d'Annunzio Chieti Pescara, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, 66100 Chieti, Italy. Electronic address: dlapenna@unich.it.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lapenna
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina e Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Università degli Studi G. d'Annunzio Chieti Pescara, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, 66100 Chieti, Italy; Laboratorio di Fisiopatologia dello Stress Ossidativo, Centro di Scienze dell'Invecchiamento-Fondazione Università G. d'Annunzio, Università degli Studi G. d'Annunzio Chieti Pescara, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuliano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciofani
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chirurgiche Sperimentali e Cliniche, Università degli Studi G. d'Annunzio Chieti Pescara, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Sante
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ucchino
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina e Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Università degli Studi G. d'Annunzio Chieti Pescara, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Adele
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Giamberardino
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Sperimentali e Cliniche, Università degli Studi G. d'Annunzio Chieti Pescara, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Ilio
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina e Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Università degli Studi G. d'Annunzio Chieti Pescara, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, 66100 Chieti, Italy; Laboratorio di Fisiopatologia dello Stress Ossidativo, Centro di Scienze dell'Invecchiamento-Fondazione Università G. d'Annunzio, Università degli Studi G. d'Annunzio Chieti Pescara, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cuccurullo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000032:analysis*; D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family; D000071396:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Mitochondrial; D000449:Aldehyde Reductase / Q000032:analysis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000032:analysis; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic; D011379:Prognosis; D050697:Retinal Dehydrogenase / Q000032:analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007527:Isoenzymes; C030863:corneal protein 54, bovine; D000449:Aldehyde Reductase; D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family; C096127:ALDH2 protein, human; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase; D000071396:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Mitochondrial; C510223:ALDH1A1 protein, human; D050697:Retinal Dehydrogenase; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; C041116:leukotriene-C4 synthase
keywords: Aldehyde dehydrogenase; Aldose reductase; Atherosclerosis; Atherosclerotic plaques; Cigarette smoke; Glutathione S-transferase; Lipid peroxidation; Reactive aldehydes