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Chronic exposure to dietary sterol glucosides is neurotoxic to motor neurons and induces an ALS-PDC phenotype.
- Source :
-
Neuromolecular medicine [Neuromolecular Med] 2008; Vol. 10 (1), pp. 24-39. Date of Electronic Publication: 2008 Jan 15. - Publication Year :
- 2008
-
Abstract
- Epidemiological studies of the Guamanian variants of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and parkinsonism, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-parkinsonism dementia complex (ALS-PDC), have shown a positive correlation between consumption of washed cycad seed flour and disease occurrence. Previous in vivo studies by our group have shown that the same seed flour induces ALS and PDC phenotypes in out bred adult male mice. In vitro studies using isolated cycad compounds have also demonstrated that several of these are neurotoxic, specifically, a number of water insoluble phytosterol glucosides of which beta-sitosterol beta-D: -glucoside (BSSG) forms the largest fraction. BSSG is neurotoxic to motor neurons and other neuronal populations in culture. The present study shows that an in vitro hybrid motor neuron (NSC-34) culture treated with BSSG undergoes a dose-dependent cell loss. Surviving cells show increased expression of HSP70, decreased cytosolic heavy neurofilament expression, and have various morphological abnormalities. CD-1 mice fed mouse chow pellets containing BSSG for 15 weeks showed motor deficits and motor neuron loss in the lumbar and thoracic spinal cord, along with decreased glutamate transporter labelling, and increased glial fibrillary acid protein reactivity. Other pathological outcomes included increased caspase-3 labelling in the striatum and decreased tyrosine-hydroxylase labelling in the striatum and substantia nigra. C57BL/6 mice fed BSSG-treated pellets for 10 weeks exhibited progressive loss of motor neurons in the lumbar spinal cord that continued to worsen even after the BSSG exposure ended. These results provide further support implicating sterol glucosides as one potential causal factor in the motor neuron pathology previously associated with cycad consumption and ALS-PDC.
- Subjects :
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis chemically induced
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis metabolism
Animals
Caspase 3 metabolism
Cells, Cultured
Corpus Striatum metabolism
Corpus Striatum pathology
Dementia chemically induced
Dementia metabolism
Diet
HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins metabolism
Male
Mice
Motor Neurons drug effects
Parkinsonian Disorders chemically induced
Parkinsonian Disorders metabolism
Spinal Cord metabolism
Spinal Cord pathology
Substantia Nigra metabolism
Substantia Nigra pathology
Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase metabolism
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis pathology
Dementia pathology
Motor Neurons pathology
Parkinsonian Disorders pathology
Sitosterols pharmacology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1559-1174
- Volume :
- 10
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Neuromolecular medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 18196479
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s12017-007-8020-z