Increased urinary F2-isoprostanes levels in the patients with Alzheimer's disease

Isoprostanes, novel markers of oxidative injury, are generated by the free radical-mediated peroxidation of arachidonic acid (AA). They are thought to be important in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we investigated the alteration of urinary F-2-isoprostanes in AD patients compared to that of healthy subjects. Our results show that the levels of urinary F-2-isoprostanes, sum of the prostaglandin F-2alpha isomer; prostaglandin F-2alpha (PGF(2alpha)), prostaglandin F-2beta (PGF(2beta)), and 8-isoprostaglandin F-2alpha (8-isoPGF(2alpha)), significantly increased in AD patients (P < 0.05). The concentration of urinary 8-isoPGF(2alpha), one of the biomarkers of oxidative stress, was not significantly different between 34 AD patients and 20 age-matched controls (P > 0.05). The PGF(2alpha), formed by endoperoxide reductase from PGH(2), was significantly increased in AD patients, when compared with the levels of the normal controls (P < 0.05). The PGF(2alpha), an enzymatic product of arachidonic acid, may affect the pathogenesis of AD. In addition, urinary F-2-isoprostanes can play an important role as a biomarker in AD. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.