The application of bathophenanthroline for the determination of free iron in parallel with hROS in microdialysis samples.

BACKGROUND: Free, non-protein bound, Fe(II), which can catalyse the formation of the toxic highly-reactive oxygen species (hROS), has been implicated in several neurodegenerative conditions. The determination of free Fe(II) and Fe(III) in samples obtained from microdialysis experiments has been limited by the small amounts of sample available. NEW METHOD: This work describes the development of a HPLC, with absorbance detection, method, based on the complexation of Fe(II) with bathophenanthroline disulfonate (BS), which allows a complete extracellular iron analysis with the small sample amounts that are available from in vivo microdialysis in rat brain. RESULTS: Microdialysis experiments using 6-hydroxydopamine stimulation, showed that basal-as well as evoked levels of extracellular Fe(II) and total iron could be determined in parallel with measurements of hROS formation. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS: Although a spectrophotometric BS-based assay has been reported for use in microdialysis samples from large animals, the present procedure is applicable to the small sample sizes available from studies in rat brain. It is simpler than the alternative, involving inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. CONCLUSIONS: The procedure described is simple and sensitive, giving a linear response in the Fe(II) concentration range of 50 -2000 nM. A 20 min microdialysis sample (flow-rate 3 µl/min) yields sufficient material for triplicate determinations of the evoked release of Fe(II) and total iron whilst leaving sufficient sample volume for determining hROS and amine or amino-acid neurotransmitter release.

Continuous monitoring of highly reactive oxygen radicals during in vivo microdialysis.

BACKGROUND: Terephthalate (TA(2-)), which reacts with highly reactive oxygen species (hROS) to form the fluorophor 2-hydroxy terephthalic acid (OH-TA) with a high selectivity, has been used for determining hROS formation during in vivo microdialysis. Previously this involved collecting fractions of the microdialysate and determining the OH-TA formed after HPLC (the batch method). NEW METHOD: This work reports the development and validation of a procedure for continuously determining hROS formation during microdialysis. TA(2-) was added to the artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) perfusing medium to trap hROS. OH-TA formation was detected in real time with a sensitive fluorescence detector equipped with a capillary flow cell that was coupled directly to the effluent stream of the microdialysis system. RESULTS: The behaviour of the system was assessed by comparison with the batch method and using a well-characterized animal model of excitotoxic damage, based on the application of high concentrations (1mM and 500µM) of the non-NMDA glutamate receptor agonist kainate (KA) to the neostriatum. Data for the evoked release of taurine were also determined in these samples. No temporal difference between hROS and taurine release could be detected. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): The flow method had a comparable sensitivity of hROS detection to the batch method. It was simpler, cheaper and less time-consuming than the batch method. CONCLUSIONS: This direct system is convenient and technically undemanding. It should be useful for the rapid assessment of the hROS responses to neurotoxins and other compounds in microdialysis experiments in vivo.

Study of total antioxidant activity of human serum blood in the pathology of alcoholism.

The total antioxidant activity (TAA) of human serum blood of patients suffering from alcoholism was tested by cathode voltammetry with a model process of oxygen electroreduction. A known spectrophotometrical method was used for comparison. As results the total antioxidant activity of serum blood of patients with alcoholism was estimated by voltammetry during therapy in hospital. It was shown the TAA of serum blood of patients in pathology before and after treatment is lower than that one of healthy people. However, during the process of 10 days of alcoholism treatment the TAA coefficient increases. The relationship between the coefficient of total antioxidant activity of human serum blood and the stage of treatment was detected.

Highly reactive oxygen species: detection, formation, and possible functions.

The so-called reactive oxygen species (ROS) are defined as oxygen-containing species that are more reactive than O(2) itself, which include hydrogen peroxide and superoxide. Although these are quite stable, they may be converted in the presence of transition metal ions, such as Fe(II), to the highly reactive oxygen species (hROS). hROS may exist as free hydroxyl radicals (HO·), as bound ("crypto") radicals or as Fe(IV)-oxo (ferryl) species and the somewhat less reactive, non-radical species, singlet oxygen. This review outlines the processes by which hROS may be formed, their damaging potential, and the evidence that they might have signaling functions. Since our understanding of the formation and actions of hROS depends on reliable procedures for their detection, particular attention is given to procedures for hROS detection and quantitation and their applicability to in vivo studies.

Clinically available iron chelators induce neuroprotection in the 6-OHDA model of Parkinson's disease after peripheral administration.

The iron content of the substantia nigra pars compacta increases in the brains of Parkinson's disease patients. Hence, its removal by iron chelators may retard the progression of the disease. However, information on the ability of clinically available iron chelators to cross the blood brain barrier and be neuroprotective is limited. In this present study three iron chelators, which are currently approved for clinical use, namely the hexadendate, deferrioxamine, the bidentate deferiprone and the tridendate chelator deferasirox have been investigated for their efficacy to induce neuroprotection. Previous studies have shown that both deferiprone and deferrioxamine exert neuroprotection in the 6-hydroxy dopamine (6-OHDA) model but no such studies have investigated deferasirox. Focal administration of deferasirox (0.5, 2 and 10 µg) into the substantia nigra pars compacta of rats significantly attenuated the loss of dopaminergic neurons and striatal dopamine content resulting from 6-OHDA toxicity. Systemic administration of deferasirox (20 mg/kg), deferiprone (10 mg/kg) or deferrioxamine (30 mg/kg), to the 6-OHDA rat model of Parkinson's disease, significantly attenuated the loss of dopaminergic neurons and striatal dopamine content. Further studies to comprehend the action of these chelators showed that local application of either 0.4 mM deferrioxamine, or 1 mM deferasirox, via a microdialysis probe into the striatum, prior to that of 200 µM 6-OHDA, prevented the generation of hydroxyl radicals. Our results confirm that the administration of these chelators show therapeutic efficacy and should be considered as therapeutic agents for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Kinetic study of the complex reaction between copper(II) and 2-(2'-hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)benzothiazole.

2-(2'-Hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)benzothiazole reacts with copper(II) in an ethanol/water mixture to form an O,S chelate which exhibits the remarkable property of changing the chelation site above a pH of ca. 5.0, to the O,N site. The detailed kinetics of this reaction in an ethanol/water mixture (3:1) at a temperature of 25 degrees C was investigated using a stopped-flow spectrophotometric technique employing a wavelength of 400 nm. The initial complex, Cu(O,S), is formed via a fast, reversible second-order complex formation step whereupon the formation of the Cu (O,N) follows first order kinetics. The Cu(O,N) complex is, however, unstable towards internal electron exchange and after the reaction is complete, a black polymeric material very slowly precipitates out of solution. Rate and equilibrium constants for the postulated reactions are presented and discussed.

Mechanistic aspects of the Fenton reaction under conditions approximated to the extracellular fluid.

The Fenton reaction was investigated, in a medium approximating to that of the extracellular fluid (ECF), by rapid-mixing stopped flow experiments and HPLC analysis using sodium terephthalate (TA(2-)). The reactive intermediate of the Fenton reaction hydroxylates the essentially nonfluorescent, TA(2-) to the brilliant fluorophor 2-hydroxy-terephthalate (OH-TA), which allows the Fenton reaction to be monitored in stopped-flow experiments. There was no artefactual quenching of the fluorescence by substances present in the Fenton-reaction mixture or in the artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) that might have influenced OH-TA quantification. A mathematical model based on kinetic considerations was developed. This explains the observed independence of the OH-TA concentration on the amount of TA(2-) present in aCSF as well as its dependence on TA(2-) concentration in potassium acetate buffer. A mechanism based on this model, involving complex formation between Fe(II), TA(2-) and H(2)O(2), followed by an intra-molecular hydroxylation accompanied by an intra-molecular electron transfer was developed. The results are consistent with a reactive intermediate, which causes oxidative stress in vivo, not being a free hydroxyl radical, but a ferryl species or a "crypto" radical. The biological implications of these results are discussed.

The detection of hydroxyl radicals in vivo.

Several indirect methods have been developed for the detection and quantification of highly reactive oxygen species (hROS), which may exist either as free hydroxyl radicals, bound "crypto" radicals or Fe(IV)-oxo species, in vivo. This review discusses the strengths and weaknesses associated with those most commonly used, which determine the hydroxylation of salicylate or phenylalanine. Chemical as well as biological arguments indicate that neither the hydroxylation of salicylate nor that of phenylalanine can guarantee an accurate hydroxyl radical quantitation in vivo. This is because not all hydroxylated product-species can be used for detection and the ratio of these species strongly depends on the chemical environment and on the reaction time. Furthermore, at least in the case of salicylate, the high concentrations of the chemical trap required (mM) are known to influence biological processes associated with oxidative stress. Two, newer, alternative methods described, the 4-hydroxy benzoic acid (4-HBA) and the terephthalate (TA) assays, do not have these drawbacks. In each case reaction with hROS leads to only one hydroxylated product. Thus, from a chemical viewpoint, they should provide a better hROS quantitation. Further work is needed to assess any possible biological effects of the required millimolar (4-HBA) and micromolar (TA) concentrations of the chemical traps.

Validation of a robust and sensitive method for detecting hydroxyl radical formation together with evoked neurotransmitter release in brain microdialysis.

Sodium terephthalate was shown to be a new robust and sensitive chemical trap for highly reactive oxygen species (hROS), which lacks the drawbacks of the salicylic acid method. Reaction of the almost non-fluorescent terephthalate (TA2-) with hydroxyl radicals or ferryl-oxo species resulted in the stoichiometric formation of the brilliant fluorophor, 2-hydroxyterephthalate (OH-TA). Neither hydrogen peroxide nor superoxide reacts in this system. This procedure was validated for determining hROS formation during microdialysis under in vivo conditions as well as by in vitro studies. The detection limit of OH-TA in microdialysis samples was 0.5 fmol/muL. Derivatization of samples with o-phthalaldehyde, for amino acid detection, had no effect on OH-TA fluorescence, which could easily be resolved from the amino acid derivatives by HPLC, allowing determination in a single chromatogram. Use of terephthalate in microdialysis experiments showed the neurotoxin kainate to evoke hROS formation in a dose-dependent manner. The presence of TA2- in the perfusion fluid did not affect basal or evoked release of aspartate, glutamate, taurine and GABA. Assessment of cell death 'ex vivo' showed TA2- to be non-toxic at concentrations up to 1 mM. The in vitro results in the Fenton system (Fe2+ + H2O2) indicate a mechanism whereby TA2- forms a primary complex with Fe2+ followed by an intramolecular hydroxylation accompanied by intramolecular electron transfer.