Defective cholesterol metabolism in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
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ABSTRACT: As neurons die, cholesterol is released in the central nervous system (CNS); hence, this sterol and its metabolites may represent a biomarker of neurodegeneration, including in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in which altered cholesterol levels have been linked to prognosis. More than 40 different sterols were quantified in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from ALS patients and healthy controls. In CSF, the concentration of cholesterol was found to be elevated in ALS samples. When CSF metabolite levels were normalized to cholesterol, the cholesterol metabolite 3?,7?-dihydroxycholest-5-en-26-oic acid, along with its precursor 3?-hydroxycholest-5-en-26-oic acid and product 7?-hydroxy-3-oxocholest-4-en-26-oic acid, were reduced in concentration, whereas metabolites known to be imported from the circulation into the CNS were not found to differ in concentration between groups. Analysis of serum revealed that (25R)26-hydroxycholesterol, the immediate precursor of 3?-hydroxycholest-5-en-26-oic acid, was reduced in concentration in ALS patients compared with controls. We conclude that the acidic branch of bile acid biosynthesis, known to be operative in-part in the brain, is defective in ALS, leading to a failure of the CNS to remove excess cholesterol, which may be toxic to neuronal cells, compounded by a reduction in neuroprotective 3?,7?-dihydroxycholest-5-en-26-oic acid.
SUBMITTER: Abdel-Khalik J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5234729 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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