Hady Shimon

Lithium inhibitable enzymes in postmortem brain of bipolar patients

Despite considerable ongoing efforts at the epidemiological, genetic and molecular level, the etiology of bipolar disorder had not yet been elucidated. To study possible contributing components to the pathophysiology of this disorder, we have hypothesized that levels of enzymes inhibited by therapeutically relevant lithium ion concentrations in the brain of patients may differ from those in normal controls and may be involved in the etiology of the disorder. Three Li-inhibitable enzymes were studied in postmortem brain samples of bipolar patients and normal controls. The expression and function of the two enzymes that are obviously involved in signaling cascades, IMPase, involved in the second messenger system of the phosphatidylinositol cycle, and GSK-3, a mediator of an array of signaling cascades, were not found to be different in postmortem frontal and occipital cortex of bipolar patients and normal controls. Only PAP phosphatase protein levels, but not its mRNA levels or enzymatic activity, were found to be significantly decreased in frontal cortex of bipolar patients compared with normal controls.

Corrigendum to “Lithium inhibitable enzymes in postmortem brain of bipolar patients”[J Psychiatr Res 21 (2003) 433–442]☆

Galila Agam*, Galit Shaltiel, Nitsan Kozlovsky, Hady Shimon, R.H. Belmaker Stanley Research Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel Ministry of Health Mental Health Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel

Inositol levels in post mortem brain samples of Alzheimer's patients

Abstract 1. 1. Free inositol levels in occipital and parietal cortex of Alzheimers Disease (AD) patients were reported to be significantly elevated by 10–35% compared with matched controls, studied by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) during life. 2. 2. An MRS study of post mortem samples failed to demonstrate a significant difference between AD and controls. 3. 3. The present study shows non-significant trends of 13% increase in frontal cortex and 5% and 21% decrease in occipital cortex and cerebellum respectively, in post mortem brain specimens of AD patients measured gas chromatographically (GC).

PLASMA INOSITOL IS NOT ELEVATED IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Brain inositol levels have been previously reported as elevated in Alzheimers disease (AD) in brain. Brain inositol levels may be reflected in plasma levels. We therefore studied plasma inositol levels in 20 AD patients and 20 controls. Plasma inositol levels in the AD patients did not differ from values found in the controls.