Aminolevulinate dehydratase (δ-ALA-D) as marker protein of intoxication with metals and other pro-oxidant situations

Abstract

δ-ALA-D is a metalloenzyme that has 3 vicinal thiol/thiolate groups that coordinate with Zn(II). The proximity between the sulfhydryl groups renders δ-ALA-D extremely sensitive to oxidation by soft electrophiles, such as Pb(II), Hg(II), As(III) and organoseleno and organotellurium compounds. In fact, blood δ-ALA-D is a classical biomarker of lead exposure in humans. The inhibition of δ-ALA-D can increase the concentration of 5-aminolevulinate (δ-ALA), which is a pro-oxidant compound. δ-ALA can generate oxidative stress that can further increase δ-ALA-D inhibition. Recently, data have been obtained indicating that the δ-ALA-D could be a marker of oxidative stress in human pathologies. In summary, considering its high sensitivity to pro-oxidant situations, δ-ALA-D can be considered a universal marker of oxidative stress.

Antioxidant effect of quinoline derivatives containing or not selenium: Relationship with antinociceptive action quinolines are antioxidant and antinociceptive

“…Some studies have described that the toxicity of organoselenium compounds could be associated with δ-ALA-D activity inhibition. δ-ALA-D is a sulfhydryl-containing enzyme, which can be inhibited, in different prooxidant situations; this enzyme can be used as a marker of toxicity (Bechara 1996, Pinton et al 2010, Rocha et al 2012. This is a satisfactory result since most organochalcogen compounds showed activity to oxidize thiol groups (Nogueira et al 2004, Luchese et al 2007, Gay et al 2010.…”

An in vivo insight to the toxicological profile of various organotellurides

“…Doses ( potential and specifically the thiol oxidation ␦-ALA-D inhibition by different organochalcogens (Rocha et al, 2012). A more direct evidence of the thiol oxidation came from the study of Hassan et al (2009), which described the kinetics of mono and di-thiols oxidation by diphenyl ditelluride at different physiological conditions.…”

(E)‐2‐Benzylidene‐4‐phenyl‐1,3‐diselenole ameliorates signals of renal injury induced by cisplatin in rats

“…d-ALA-D Activity d-ALA-D, a sulfhydryl-containing enzyme, has been used as a marker protein of pro-oxidant situations (Rocha et al, 2012). d-ALA-D activity was determined according to the method of Sassa (1982) by measuring the rate of product (porphobilinogen, PBG) formation except that 100 mM sodium phosphate buffer pH 6.8 and 2.4 mM d-ALA were used.…”