The effect of increased concentrations of homocysteine on the concentration of ( E)-4-hydroxy-2-nonenal in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer’s disease

• Published in: Neurobiology of aging Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 383 - 388
• Main Authors: Selley, M.L., Close, D.R., Stern, S.E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Inc 01.05.2002; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: ( E)-4-Hydroxy-2-nonenal; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aldehydes - blood; Aldehydes - cerebrospinal fluid; Alzheimer Disease - blood; Alzheimer Disease - cerebrospinal fluid; Alzheimer’s disease; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Cerebrospinal fluid; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Drug Interactions - physiology; Female; Folic Acid - blood; Folic Acid - cerebrospinal fluid; Homocysteine; Homocysteine - blood; Homocysteine - cerebrospinal fluid; Homocysteine - physiology; Humans; Lipid peroxidation; Male; Medical sciences; Neurology; Plasma; Statistics, Nonparametric; Vitamin B 12; Vitamin B 12 - blood; Vitamin B 12 - cerebrospinal fluid; Plasma; Alzheimer’s disease; Vitamin B 12; Lipid peroxidation; Cerebrospinal fluid; Homocysteine; ( E)-4-Hydroxy-2-nonenal; Human; Nervous system diseases; Homocystein; Alzheimer disease; Central nervous system disease; Degenerative disease; B-Vitamins; Cyanocobalamin; Cerebral disorder; Blood plasma
• ISSN: 0197-4580; 1558-1497
• DOI: 10.1016/S0197-4580(01)00327-X

There is evidence that increased blood concentrations of homocysteine may be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. ( E)-4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE) is a neurotoxic product of lipid peroxidation that is increased in the ventricular fluid and brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. We measured the concentrations of homocysteine, HNE, vitamin B 12 and folate in the plasma of 27 patients with Alzheimer’s disease and 25 control subjects. There was a statistically significant increase in the plasma concentration of homocysteine ( P < 0.001) and HNE ( P < 0.001) in the Alzheimer’s disease patients compared to the control group. There was a significant decrease in the plasma concentration of vitamin B 12 ( P < 0.001) and folate ( P = 0.002) in the Alzheimer’s group compared to the controls. There was a significant positive correlation between the plasma concentrations of homocysteine and HNE in the patients with Alzheimer’s disease ( r = 0.661, P < 0.001). A significant negative correlation was found between the plasma concentration of homocysteine and the plasma concentrations of vitamin B 12 ( r = –0.605, P = 0.0006) and folate ( r = 0.586, P = 0.001). We also measured the concentrations of homocysteine, HNE, vitamin B 12 and folate in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 8 patients with Alzhiemer’s disease compared to 6 control subjects. The concentrations of homocysteine ( P = 0.032) and HNE ( P = 0.001) were significantly higher in the CSF of Alzheimer’s patients than in the control subjects. There were significant positive correlations between the CSF concentrations of homocysteine and HNE ( r = 0.924, P = 0.001). There was also a significant positive correlation between the plasma concentration of homocysteine and the CSF concentrations of homocysteine ( r = 0.850, P = 0.007) and HNE ( r = 0.092, P = 0.002). These results demonstrate that there is a relationship between increased homocysteine concentrations and increased HNE concentrations in Alzheimer’s disease.