The purpose of this work was to study the effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on DNA and to investigate the relevance of ROS-induced DNA damage in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Using model systems of ROS generation, it was found that DNA was damaged by ROS at all levels of its structure, causing strand breaks, base modifications and conformational changes. Hydrogen peroxide, a ROS generated during inflammation in vivo, produced a characteristic type of site-specific damage dependent on the DNA-bound metal ion catalysis of its degradation. 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8OHDG), a modified DNA base, was used as a marker of oxidative damage to investigate the role of DNA damage in the aetiopathogenesis of SLE. Excretion of this adduct was detected in normal urine and is believed to arise from normal oxidative metabolic processes. In patients with active rheumatoid arthritis, this level of 8OHDG excretion was significantly elevated. In contrast, in SLE patients with inflammatory activity, 8OHDG was undetectable in the urine. Investigation of the mechanism responsible for this showed that SLE cells had aberrant removal of 8OHDG from DNA following oxidative stress in vitro compared to normal cells, and that ROS-denatured DNA accumulated in circulating immune complexes associated with the disease. SLE is also characterised by circulating anti-DNA antibodies. These antibodies were found to bind better to ROS-DNA than to native double-stranded DNA. Furthermore, ROS-DNA was able to stimulate lymphocytes to produce anti-DNA antibodies. The pattern of DNA damage seen in SLE patients was typical of that induced by hydrogen peroxide in vitro. This suggests that inflammation generates ROS which cause DNA damage. As a result of defective repair within cells, ROS-DNA is released into the circulation following cell death which can form complexes with anti-DNA antibodies. In addition, the ROS-DNA can stimulate further anti-DNA antibody production by acting directly on cells thus perpetuating the disease process and contributing to immune complex deposition, a deleterious manifestation of the disease process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:761249 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Blount, Susan |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/8827/ |
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