Regional distribution of superoxide dismutase in rat brain during postnatal development.

Superoxide dismutase in nervous system protects readily oxidizable compounds such as catecholamines against toxic effects of oxygen. We investigated superoxide dismutase activity during development in 5 brain regions selected for a wide range of catecholamine concentration and turnover: cerebellum, neocortex, striatum, hypothalamus and medulla-pons. The cytosolic and the particulate enzyme were measured from birth to 6 months of age. In cerebellum the cytosolic enzyme shows considerable activity on the first postnatal days; the particulate enzyme is less active, both reach a maximum at 3 months. In cortex and striatum both activities were low during the postnatal days and reach a plateau at 3 months. In hypothalamus both activities are higher during the postnatal days and reach a maximum at 3 months. In medulla-pons the values are 2 times higher than in all other regions; the cytosolic enzyme reaches a maximum at 2 months whereas the particulate enzyme reaches a plateau at 3 months. Thus our results show an increase of superoxide dismutase activity during development in all brain regions; the highest activities were found in regions with high catecholamine content.

Frequencies of glyoxalase I phenotypes as biological markers in chronic alcoholism.

Biological markers for alcoholism would be a valuable tool for early diagnosis. We have studied the phenotype frequencies of genetically determined erythrocyte enzymes in 397 alcoholics, including two populations with liver disease: steatosis (n = 86) and cirrhosis (n = 128) and a population of alcoholics without apparent liver disease (n = 183) compared to a well selected control population (n = 177). Only for Glyoxalase I (GLO) phenotypes (1,2 and 2-1) were significant differences found between the male controls and the male alcoholics. In the total male alcoholic population the frequency of phenotype 1 was significantly increased (23.2% vs. 11%, p less than 0.02), and the frequency of phenotype 2 was significantly decreased (32.3% vs. 46.3 p less than 0.02) compared to the male control population. For normal women the frequency of phenotype 1 and 2 was significantly different from normal men. (1: +177% p less than 0.001, 2: -45% p less than 0.01), but no significant differences were found between alcoholic and normal women. Our results suggest that in male subjects Glyoxalase I phenotype 1 may provide a marker for predisposition to alcoholism.