CuZn-superoxide dismutase, extracellular superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase in blood from individuals homozygous for Asp90Ala CuZu-superoxide dismutase mutation.

The Asp90Ala CuZn-superoxide dismutase mutation is associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in both homo- and heterozygous form. We analyzed antioxidant enzymes in blood from 44 individuals homozygous and 114 individuals heterozygous for the Asp90Ala mutation as well as 66 blood relatives carrying the wild-type allele only. Erythrocyte CuZn-superoxide dismutase activity was reduced by 9% in the homozygous individuals, confirming previous findings on a smaller cohort. The specific activity of Asp90Ala mutant CuZn-superoxide dismutase in erythrocytes was equal to that of isolated mutant enzyme and slightly higher than that of isolated wild-type enzyme. There was no evidence for the presence of inactive mutant molecules in erythrocytes, and the lower activity is due to the occurrence of fewer active molecules. There were no significant differences between the groups in plasma extracellular superoxide dismutase content, and the erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activities were virtually identical. Also, there were no differences in these parameters between homozygous individuals with or without ALS. There was no evidence for any association with ALS of a polymorphic extracellular superoxide dismutase mutation, Arg213Gly. The absence of response of the blood antioxidant enzymes to the Asp90Ala CuZn-superoxide dismutase mutation does not support the theory that the ALS-linked CuZn-superoxide dismutase mutations cause disease by increased oxidant stress.