Mechanisms of aluminium neurotoxicity in oxidative stress-induced ...
Mechanisms of aluminium neurotoxicity in oxidative stress-induced ...
Mechanisms of aluminium neurotoxicity in oxidative stress-induced ...
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CHAPTER 1<br />
aga<strong>in</strong>st degeneration (Trojanowski and Lee 2003), our results corroborate the<br />
<strong>in</strong>volvement <strong>of</strong> the <strong>oxidative</strong> <strong>stress</strong> caused by 6-OHDA autoxidation as a trigger<strong>in</strong>g<br />
factor <strong>in</strong> the development <strong>of</strong> neurodegeneration. In view <strong>of</strong> both the recently reported<br />
ability <strong>of</strong> <strong>oxidative</strong> <strong>stress</strong> to act as a primary event for α-synucle<strong>in</strong> polimerization and<br />
the <strong>in</strong>volvement <strong>of</strong> these aggregates <strong>in</strong> neurodegenerative processes (Cutillas et al.<br />
1999, Krantic et al. 2005), the fibrillization <strong>of</strong> α-synucle<strong>in</strong> could also be responsible for<br />
the slow rate <strong>of</strong> neurodegeneration observed after unilateral, <strong>in</strong>trastriatal adm<strong>in</strong>istration<br />
<strong>of</strong> 6-OHDA. Evidently, both our results and the suggested hypothesis do not discard the<br />
suggested <strong>in</strong>volvement <strong>of</strong> microglia <strong>in</strong> the correspond<strong>in</strong>g neuronal death (Rodrigues et<br />
al. 2001, Przedborski and Goldman 2004), because the formation <strong>of</strong> certa<strong>in</strong> uncharged<br />
ROS dur<strong>in</strong>g the 6-OHDA autoxidation, with a relatively non short half-life, makes these<br />
substances highly diffusible through biological membranes and suitable for cellular<br />
signal<strong>in</strong>g (Vroegop et al. 1995, Kamsler and Segal 2004).<br />
It is also important to emphasize that the unilateral <strong>in</strong>jection <strong>of</strong> 6-OHDA also<br />
caused a significant <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>dices <strong>of</strong> <strong>oxidative</strong> <strong>stress</strong> <strong>of</strong> the contralateral side,<br />
affect<strong>in</strong>g both the striatum and the ventral midbra<strong>in</strong>. Our results show that the<br />
magnitude <strong>of</strong> these <strong>in</strong>creases was lower than that found <strong>in</strong> the ipsilateral side, which<br />
agree with the reported <strong>in</strong>ability <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>trastriatal and unilateral <strong>in</strong>jections <strong>of</strong> 6-OHDA to<br />
cause loss <strong>of</strong> cell bodies <strong>in</strong> the contralateral side (Lee et al. 1996). However, these data<br />
clearly preclude the use <strong>of</strong> the contralateral side as a control to assess neurochemical<br />
changes <strong>in</strong>duced by 6-OHDA <strong>in</strong> this experimental model <strong>of</strong> PD. This may be expla<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
by the above-mentioned ability <strong>of</strong> certa<strong>in</strong> ROS generated by 6-OHDA autoxidation to<br />
diffuse through biological membranes.<br />
In summary, our data confirm that <strong>in</strong>trastriatal and unilateral <strong>in</strong>jections <strong>of</strong> 6-<br />
OHDA cause <strong>oxidative</strong> <strong>stress</strong> (lipid peroxidation and prote<strong>in</strong> oxidation), which<br />
<strong>in</strong>creases dur<strong>in</strong>g the first 2-day post-<strong>in</strong>jection and returns to approximate control levels<br />
at the 17-day post-<strong>in</strong>jection. This appears to be the trigger<strong>in</strong>g factor for the<br />
neurodegenerative process, and the retrograde neurodegeneration follow<strong>in</strong>g the first<br />
week post-<strong>in</strong>jection seems to be a consequence <strong>of</strong> the cell damage caused with<strong>in</strong> the<br />
first days post-<strong>in</strong>jection. F<strong>in</strong>ally, when this model is used to assess new neuroprotective<br />
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