Research focus: |
Lehrstuhl für Toxikologie
Versbacher Str. 9, 97078 Würzburg Mail: ennio@mail.uni-wuerzburg.de Url: |
Scientific members:
Professors:
Outside lecturer:
Other participating persons and organisations:
Research foci (and basic equipment-based research projects):
Molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases.
Investigations of molecular pathogenetic mechanisms of 1st. neurodegenerative diseases (dementia of the Alzheimer type) and of 2nd. the extent of cerebral damage post mortem induced by lifetime exposure to alcohol.
Results:
Chronic alcohol consumption shifts cerebral glutathione redox ratio towards higher levels of glutathione disulfide in the human brain as measured post mortem. This implicates that oxidative stress may be part of the pathogenetic mechanisms operative in alcohol-induced cerebral disfunction.
Brain levels of 1,N2-propanodeoxyguanosine adducts of trans-4-hydroxy-2-nonenal in Alzheimer?s disease were not altered as compared to controls matched for age. However, the hippocampal area showed higher levels of this adduct than can be found in neocortical areas or cerebellum, pointing towards selective sensitivity of the hippocampus to lipid peroxidation.
Götz, M.E., Janetzky, B., Pohli, S., Gottschalk, A., Gsell, W., Tatschner, T., Ransmayr, G., Leblhuber, F., Gerlach, M., Reichmann, H., Riederer, P., Böning, J.: Chronic alcohol consumption and cerebral indices of oxidative stress. Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. (2001) 25, 717-725.
Götz, M.E., Wacker, M., Luckhaus, C., Wanek, P., Tatschner, T., Jellinger, K., Leblhuber, F., Ransmayr, G., Riederer P., Eder, E.: Unaltered brain levels of 1,N2-propanodeoxyguanosine adducts of trans-4-hydroxy-2-nonenal in Alzheimer's disease. Neurosci. Lett. (2002) 324, 49-52
Rewards and prizes:
none
Equipment:
High performance liquid chromatography equipped with an electrochemical detector for the quantitation of glutathione and glutathione disulfide (ESA-Coulochem 5100A, Bedford, MA).
Detection of DNA-adducts following 32P-postlabeling by using an image analysis system (Instant Imager, Packard, Meridien, CT).