%0 Journal Article
%T Expressions of glutathione S-transferase alpha, mu, and pi in brains of medically intractable epileptic patients
%A Wei Shang
%A Wei-Hong Liu
%A Xiu-He Zhao
%A Qin-Jian Sun
%A Jian-Zhong Bi
%A Zhao-Fu Chi
%J BMC Neuroscience
%D 2008
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2202-9-67
%X Three different GST isoforms (¦Á, ¦Ì, and ¦Ð) were detected with immunohistochemistry. GST-¦Á expression was not seen in any cortex specimens. Sixty three percent (63%) of control and 53% of intractible epileptic specimens showed GST-¦Ì immunoreactivity. No significant difference in intensity of GST-¦Ì staining was observed between these two groups. GST-¦Ð expression was found in endothelial cells and glial cells/astrocytes. Fifty percent (50%) of the control patients and 66% of the epileptic patients were GST-¦Ð positive. The grading of epileptic patients was significantly higher than that of control patients (p < 0.01).High levels of GST-¦Ð in endothelial cells and glial cells/astrocyte correlate to medical intractable epilepsy, suggesting that GST-¦Ð contributes to resistance to AED treatment.Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder, affecting approximately 1 to 2% of the population [1]. The majority of epileptic patients are successfully treated with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Nevertheless, about 20¨C25% of epileptic patients, as defined as medically intractable epilepsy, fail to respond to AEDs [2].AEDs can prevent abnormal neuronal firing and seizure spread at seizure focus. The enzymatic activity of Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) in liver plays an essential role in metabolizing and clearing AEDs [3-5]. GSTs are a group of phase II enzymes of defense that catalyze the conjugation of reduced glutathione to a wide range of electrophiles [6]. There are eight isoforms of soluble GST (¦Á, ¦Ì, ¦Ð, ¦È, ¦Ø, ¦Æ, ¦Ò, and ¦Ê) and at least three membrane bound GST isoforms (MGST1, MGST2 and MGST3) [7,8]. GSTs are widely expressed in almost every tissue, while some isoforms show tissue-specific distribution. In mammals, expression of GST-¦Á, ¦Ì, and ¦Ð in CNS was reported [9-12]. In the present study, it is hypothesized that higher levels of GSTs in brain, especially in brain-blood barrier may result in poor intraparenchymal accumulation of AEDs, and lead to medical intractability. There
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