Plasma thiols levels in Alzheimer's disease mice under diet-induced hyperhomocysteinemia: effect of S-adenosylmethionine and superoxide-dismutase supplementation.

Widely confirmed reports were published on association between hyperhomocysteinemia, B vitamin deficiency, oxidative stress, and amyloid-β in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Homocysteine, cysteine, cysteinylglycine and glutathione are metabolically interrelated thiols that may be potential indicators of health status and disease risk; they all participate in the metabolic pathway of homocysteine. Previous data obtained in one of our laboratories showed that B vitamin deficiency induced exacerbation of AD-like features in TgCRND8 AD mice; these effects were counteracted by S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) supplementation, through the modulation of DNA methylation and antioxidant pathways. Since the cellular response to oxidative stress typically involves alteration in thiols content, a rapid and sensitive HPLC method with fluorescence detection was here used to evaluate the effect of SAM and superoxide-dismutase (SOD) supplementation on thiols level in plasma, in TgCRND8 mice. The quantitative data obtained from HPLC analysis of mice plasma samples showed significant decrease of thiols level when the B vitamin deficient diet was supplemented with SAM + SOD and SOD alone, the latter showing the greatest effect. All these considerations point out the measurement of plasma thiols concentration as a powerful tool of relevance for all clinical purposes involving the evaluation of oxidative stress. The coupling of HPLC with fluorimetric detection, here used, provided a strong method sensitivity allowing thiols determination at very low levels.