Plasma DNA levels in patients with atherosclerotic involvement of the major arteries of the head and lateral amyotrophic sclerosis

Abstract

Measurements of DNA concentrations by fluorescence of the DNA--bisBenzimide complex in the plasma of normal subjects, patients with disorders of cerebral circulation of different severity caused by atherosclerotic involvement of the carotid and/or spinal arteries (after the acute stage of brain stroke), and patients with lateral amyotrophic sclerosis showed a significant increase in its content vs. the norm. Electrophoresis of DNA isolated from plasma showed that in the patients it is represented not only by long fragments of at least 20,000 bp (which is typical of normal subjects), but also by shorter fragments. Key Words: DNA; fluorometry; bisBenzimide; cerebral circulation disorders; lateral amyotrophic sclerosisThe blood-brain barrier is always involved in organic diseases of the nervous system; the degree of such involvement can vary from metabolic to mechanical. This involves the development of pathological process, including autoimmune reactions toward brainspecific proteins of neurons, myelin, and glial elements. There are no published reports about changes in the plasma level of DNA which may be caused by destruction of nervous tissue and by DNA excretion by activated lymphocytes [2] because of developing autoimmune reactions.We compared plasma DNA levels in two types of nervous system involvement associated with destruction of brain structures of different extent: ex-

Circulating Extracellular DNA: Cause or Consequence of Thrombosis?

“…86 The concentration of DNA detected by Hoechst 33258, a fluorescent DNA dye, was increased in plasma of patients with coronary artery atherosclerosis compared with healthy controls. 87 In accord with this finding, an independent study identified increased levels of nucleosomes in plasma from 231 atherosclerosis patients. 88 Plasma nucleosomes positively correlated with plasma concentration of markers of endothelium and coagulation activation (e.g., thrombin-antithrombin complexes and von Willebrand factor).…”

Influence of Plasma DNA on Acid–Base Balance, Blood Gas Measurement, and Oxygen Transport in Health and Stroke

“…In clinical trials, it was shown that the hemodynamic resistance in apparently healthy donors inversely correlated with the concentration of pDNA, while in patients with ischemic stroke the hemodynamic resistance significantly increased and inversely correlated with the amount of the circulating long pDNA fragments (>20 kb). [4][5][6][7] During the first 24 h after ischemic stroke there is a 7-to 20-fold elevation in the concentration of pDNA, [8][9][10] resulting from the appearance of a great number (up to 80%) of short fragments (<1-0.2 kb), with a simultaneous decrease in the number of long ones (>23 kb). Oligonucleosomes were found in 100% of patients who had a severe stroke and a poor prognosis.…”