Publisher Summary Catalase exerts a dual function: (1) decomposition of H 2 O 2 to give H 2 O and O 2 (catalytic activity) and (2) oxidation of H donors, for example, methanol, ethanol, formic acid, phenols, with the consumption of 1 mol of peroxide (peroxide activity) The kinetics of catalase does not obey the normal pattern Measurements of enzyme activity at substrate saturation or determination of the K s is therefore impossible In contrast to reactions proceeding at substrate saturation, the enzymic decomposition of H 2 O 2 is a first-order reaction, the rate of which is always proportional to the peroxide concentration present Consequently, to avoid a rapid decrease in the initial rate of the reaction, the assay must be carried out with relatively low concentrations of H 2 O 2 (about 001 M) This chapter discusses the catalytic activity of catalase The method of choice for biological material, however, is ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry Titrimetric methods are suitable for comparative studies For large series of measurements, there are either simple screening tests, which give a quick indication of the approximative catalase activity, or automated methods

Catalase in vitro

Oxidant stress, due to the formation of hydrogen peroxide and oxygen-derived free radicals, can cause cell damage due to chain reactions of membrane lipid peroxidation. Because the substantia nigra is rich in dopamine, which can undergo both enzymatic oxidation via monoamine oxidase and nonenzymatic autoxidation, hydrogen peroxide and oxyradicals (superoxide anion radical and hydroxyl radical) are generated in this midbrain nucleus. Although proof that oxidant stress actually causes the loss of monoaminergic neurons in patients with Parkinson's disease is lacking, there is a considerable body of evidence from studies in both animals and humans that support the concept. (1) Neurotoxins that selectively destroy the dopaminergic neurons in the nigra, such as 6-hydroxydopamine and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), appear to act via oxidant stress. (2) The substantia nigra of patients with Parkinson's disease reveals evidence of oxidant stress by the findings of increased lipid peroxidation and decreased reduced glutathione. (3) Total iron is increased and ferritin is reduced in the substantia nigra pars compacta in patients with Parkinson's disease. This combination suggests that this transition metal is in a low molecular weight form, capable of catalyzing nonenzymatic oxidative reactions, especially the conversion of hydrogen peroxide to hydroxyl radical, which is the most reactive of the oxygen radicals. (4) Neuromelanin, a product of dopamine autoxidation, can serve as a reservoir for iron, promoting the generation of oxyradicals. (5) Antioxidant defense mechanisms appear to be reduced in the parkinsonian substantia nigra with the findings of decreased activities of glutathione peroxidase and catalase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The oxidant stress hypothesis in Parkinson's disease: Evidence supporting it

Lipid peroxidation in maternal and cord blood and protective mechanism against activated-oxygen toxicity in the blood

Myocardial protection and changes in gene expression follow whole body heat stress. Circumstantial evidence suggests that an inducible 70-kD heat shock protein (hsp70i), increased markedly by whole body heat stress, contributes to the protection. Transgenic mouse lines were constructed with a cytomegalovirus enhancer and beta-actin promoter driving rat hsp70i expression in heterozygote animals. Unstressed, transgene positive mice expressed higher levels of myocardial hsp70i than transgene negative mice after whole body heat stress. This high level of expression occurred without apparent detrimental effect. The hearts harvested from transgene positive mice and transgene negative littermates were Langendorff perfused and subjected to 20 min of warm (37 degrees C) zero-flow ischemia and up to 120 min of reflow while contractile recovery and creatine kinase efflux were measured. Myocardial infarction was demarcated by triphenyltetrazolium. In transgene positive compared with transgene negative hearts, the zone of infarction was reduced by 40%, contractile function at 30 min of reflow was doubled, and efflux of creatine kinase was reduced by approximately 50%. Our findings suggest for the first time that increased myocardial hsp70i expression results in protection of the heart against ischemic injury and that the antiischemic properties of hsp70i have possible therapeutic relevance.

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Overexpression of the rat inducible 70-kD heat stress protein in a transgenic mouse increases the resistance of the heart to ischemic injury.

The endogenous defenses of the mouse heart against reactive oxygen metabolites were investigated. The activities of three enzymes capable of detoxifying activated oxygen were determined in both the heart and liver; cardiac muscle contains 150 times less catalase and nearly four times less superoxide dismutase than liver. Glutathione peroxidase activities were, however, similar to the two tissues. Assay of glutathione peroxidase in the heart after 6 wk of selenium depletion with both hydrogen peroxide and cumene hydroperoxide as substrates revealed a >80% drop in enzyme activity and gave no indication that murine cardiac tissue contains nonselenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase. The selenium-deficient state, which was characterized by markedly decreased cardiac glutathione peroxidase levels, led to significantly enhanced doxorubicin toxicity at a dose of 15 mg/kg i.p. Doxorubicin administration in selenium-sufficient animals resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in cardiac glutathione peroxidase activity; the decrease in enzyme activity lasted 72 h after 15 mg/kg i.p. In contrast, cardiac superoxide dismutase and hepatic superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were unaffected by this dose of doxorubicin. These results suggest that the major pathway in cardiac tissue for detoxification of reactive oxygen metabolites is via the concerted action of superoxide dismutase and selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase. The latter enzyme may be depleted by a selenium-deficient diet or doxorubicin treatment, leaving the heart with limited mechanisms for disposing of hydrogen peroxide or lipid peroxides.

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Enzymatic Defenses of the Mouse Heart Against Reactive Oxygen Metabolites: ALTERATIONS PRODUCED BY DOXORUBICIN

Measurement of catalase activity in tissue extracts.

We have studied the uptake of 3H-dopamine, 3H-norepinephrine and the 3H-tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids derived from these 3H-catecholamines by condensation with acetaldehyde. The alkaloids and the catecholamines accumulated in the tissue to several times their concentrations in the medium. Alkaloid uptake was much less than catecholamine uptake when these substances were compared at 10-6 M; differences were less marked at 10-6 M as a result of saturation of the catecholamine uptake mechanism. We have also studied the effect of a nonradioactive, dopamine-derived tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloid (salsolinol) on the uptake of 3H-catecholamines. Salsolinol inhibited the accumulation of catecholamines. This inhibition was concentration dependent over the range 10-5 to 10-8 M; inhibition was less than that observed with reserpine or desmethylimipramine. When salsolinol was added after 3H-catecholamines had accumulated in the tissue, there was release of 3H-catecholamines into the medium. These observations are consistent with the point of view that tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids may play an important role in alcoholism.

Tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids: uptake by rat brain homogenates and inhibition of catecholamine uptake

1-Phenyl-3-(2-thiazolyl)-2-thiourea (PTTU) administered i.p. to mice prevented the neurodegenerative actions of subsequently injected (1 hour later) 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) or 6-aminodopamine on peripheral adrenergic nerve terminals. Destruction of nerve terminals was studied in vitro in the left atrium by measuring the accumulation of 3H-norepinephrine (3H-HE), and in the iris by both 3H-NE accumulation and fluorescence microscopy methods. Strong protection was observed at 4, 24 and 72 hours after 6-OHDA. The degree of protection was dose-dependent and showed step-wise decrements for concentrations of PTTU below 200 mg/kg (viz., 100, 50 and 20 mg/kg) or concentrations of 6-OHDA-HBr above 7.5 mg/kg (viz., 10, 20 and 50 mg/kg). Protection also fell off at time intervals greater than 1 hour after administration of PTTU (viz., 3 and 5 hours). The appearance (fluorescence microscopy) of the nerve plexus of fully protected mice and the remaining plexus in partially protected mice was essentially normal at 24 hours, except for infrequent large swellings. PTTU proved to be a very effective scavenger of hydroxyl radicals; the formation and scavenging of these radicals was studied by gas chromatography in a system in which the hydroxyl radicals (which were generated during the autoxidation of 6-aminodopamine) gave rise to ethylene, a hydrocarbon gas. Other hydroxyl radical scavengers, namely diethyldithiocarbamate and methimazole, exhibited a protective action on sympathetic nerves in the left atrium; PTTU, diethyldithiocarbamate and methimazole are also recognized as copper chelating compounds. Ethanol, n-butanol and cysteamine, which are well known hydroxyl radical scavengers, also exhibited some degree of protection against 6-OHDA. Blockade of transport of 6-OHDA into sympathetic nerves was ruled out as a protective mechanism by the observation that none of the protective compounds inhibited the accumulation of tritium by the left atrium when 3H-NE was injected in place of 6-OHDA. The mechanism of action for these protective agents has not been definitively established, but scavenging of cytotoxic hydroxyl radicals within neurons may play a significant role.

Destruction of sympathetic nerve terminals by 6-hydroxydopamine: protection by 1-phenyl-3-(2-thiazolyl)-2-thiourea, diethyldithiocarbamate, methimazole, cysteamine, ethanol and n-butanol.

Pargyline (100 mg/kg i.p.) administered to Swiss-Webster mice prior to the injection of ethanol (4 g/kg i.p.) elevated blood acetaldehyde levels to a mean of 20 mug/ml, compared to less than 1 mug/ml in control mice treated with ethanol alone. Elevated blood acetaldehyde was observed when ethanol was given at 15 minutes, 2 or 5 hours after pargyline; the action of pargyline had largely disappeared after 18 hours. The magnitude of the increase in blood acetaldehyde levels was dependent upon the dose of pargyline between 20 and 100 mg/kg; however, the elevation was relatively independent of the ethanol dose between 1 and 6 g/kg. Of the other monoamine oxidase inhibitors tested, Lilly 51641 showed a strong elevation in acetaldehyde (mean 13.3 mug/ml), whereas deprenyl and clorgyline gave modest elevations (2.9 and 2.6 mug/ml, respectively), and nialamide and tranylcypromine were only weakly active (1.4 and 1.2 mug/ml, respectively). Blood acetaldehyde levels in mice treated with pargyline and ethanol were strongly depressed (85%) by pyrazole, an inhibitor of alcohol dehydrogenase, and moderately to strongly depressed (49-71%) by pretreatment with phenobarbital, an inducer of liver aldehyde dehydrogenase.

The effect of pargyline and other monoamine oxidase inhibitors on blood acetaldehyde levels in ethanol-intoxicated mice.

3H-6,7-dihydroxytetrahydroisoquinoline was prepared by condensation of 3H-dopamine with formaldehyde. When administered intravenously, this 3H-alkaloid was taken up into the mouse heart and into the submaxillary glands and irides of rats. Additionally, uptake into adrenal glands was also observed. Confirmation that uptake was into sympathetic nerve terminals of the heart was achieved by experiments with chemically denervated (6-hydroxydopamine-treated) mice, and by use of catecholamine uptake inhibitors (cocaine and desmethylimipramine). These treatments diminished uptake of the 3H-alkaloid into the heart by 48 to 79%. Similarly, uptake specifically into nerve terminals of the iris and submaxillary gland was identified in experiments with surgically denervated rats (unilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy). Denervation reduced the 3H-alkaloid by 75 to 84% in the iris and by 39 to 53% in the submaxillary gland. The 3H-alkaloid in aluminum hydroxide-purified extracts of tissues was identified by thinlayer chromatography. In denervated preparations, or after cocaine or desmethylimipramine, the 3H-alkaloid was more extensively metabolized. Neuronal 3H-alkaloid was relatively protected from metabolic transformation. The relationship of these observations to a hypothesis about tetrahydroisoquinoline biosynthesis from endogenous catecholamines during ethanol metabolism is discussed.

Dorothy Dembiec

Papers

Measurement of catalase activity in tissue extracts.

Tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids: uptake by rat brain homogenates and inhibition of catecholamine uptake

Destruction of sympathetic nerve terminals by 6-hydroxydopamine: protection by 1-phenyl-3-(2-thiazolyl)-2-thiourea, diethyldithiocarbamate, methimazole, cysteamine, ethanol and n-butanol.

The effect of pargyline and other monoamine oxidase inhibitors on blood acetaldehyde levels in ethanol-intoxicated mice.

Uptake and accumulation of 3H-6,7-dihydroxytetrahydroisoquinoline by peripheral sympathetic nerves in vivo.