Peripheral Expression Levels of Selected Oxidative Stress-Related Genes in Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Objective: The etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is affected via oxidative stress. Antioxidant enzymes are extremely important in preventing reactive oxygen species (ROS) causing damage in the cell. The changes in expression levels of oxidant and antioxidant genes are key factors in cell response to oxidative stress. As a result, this study investigated the change in expression levels of specific oxidative stress related genes (solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11), glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), catalase (CAT) and acylcoa synthetase long chain family member 4 (ACSL4)) in peripheral blood of AD patients. Materials and Methods: Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to assess the expression levels of oxidative stress-related genes in 25 AD patients and 22 controls, and the findings were statistically evaluated. Results: SLC7A11, GPX4, CAT, and ACSL4 gene expression levels did not vary significantly between AD patients and controls. The results also showed significant negative correlation between age of onset and ACSL4 expression. Conclusion: This is the first study that evaluated mRNA expression levels of SLC7A11, GPX4 and ACSL4 genes in AD. The results suggested that the peripheral blood expression of above-mentioned genes did not alter in AD. However, due to the small number of subjects, this findings are preliminary and should be validated with a larger number of subjects.