Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Differential Transcriptional Alterations In Detoxification Genes In Parkinson’s Disease In Egypt

PD is the most common motor neurodegenerative disease worldwide. The underlying cause of PD is still unknow, owingthis to the complexity of the disease. Often, genetics and environmental factors are collaborating in the initiation of the disease. Despite the diversity of its genetical and environmen...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shebl, Nourhan
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2023
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613422995111936
access_status_str Open Access
author Shebl, Nourhan
author_browse Shebl, Nourhan
author_facet Shebl, Nourhan
author_sort Shebl, Nourhan
collection Thesis
description PD is the most common motor neurodegenerative disease worldwide. The underlying cause of PD is still unknow, owingthis to the complexity of the disease. Often, genetics and environmental factors are collaborating in the initiation of the disease. Despite the diversity of its genetical and environmental profiles, the Egyptian population is one of the mostunderrepresented population in terms of PD research. In this study, we investigated PD through various perspectives tohighlight the complexity of the disease in Egypt, taking into consideration the diversity of the Egyptian population. We recruited PD patients and reference controls from 4 governorates: Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, and Mansoura to study their genetical and environmental profiles. We collected blood samples and complete clinical, medical, occupational, residential, and family history. Then, we performed several assays such as gene expression, Kompetitive allele specificPCR (KASP) for genotyping, heavy metals assay targeting Al, Cd, Cu, Cr, Mn, Pb, and Ni, and non-target metabolomics. Finally, we statistically correlated and categorized the results in alignment with the clinical data and the completecollected history. Our findings and observations are very promising. We observed that prevalence of the EOPD is higherthan that in other countries. We, also, observed that there is a possible correlation between each of LRRK2 and BCHEK-variant, and pesticides exposure in PD. In our study, we highlighted the complex genetic profile within the Egyptian population in respect to our targeted PD-related genes such as LRRK2, APOE4 and MAPT. Nevertheless, our heavy metals results showed diversity in the distribution among the governorates. On the other hand, and for the first time in PD, we studied the metabolism of phenylalanine via PAL enzyme. This metabolism showed to shift the reaction from producing L-dopa and DA to producing trans cinnamate and ammonia, depriving the neurons from DA and leading to apossible neurotoxicity and, thus, neurodegeneration. Another interesting finding is that we identified a metabolite, 5 Deoxy-5-Methylthioadenosine, that is significantly lower in the K- variant carrier PD patients compared to the non-carrier patients. The reduced levels of the latter metabolite indicate lower glutathione, detoxifying enzyme levels, leaving the K-variant carrier PD patient with higher risk. All these findings and observations showed how complex is the PD profile inthe Egyptian population.
format Thesis
id oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3216
institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:54.296Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher AUC Knowledge Fountain
publisherStr AUC Knowledge Fountain
record_format dspace
source_str AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3216 Differential Transcriptional Alterations In Detoxification Genes In Parkinson’s Disease In Egypt Shebl, Nourhan PD is the most common motor neurodegenerative disease worldwide. The underlying cause of PD is still unknow, owingthis to the complexity of the disease. Often, genetics and environmental factors are collaborating in the initiation of the disease. Despite the diversity of its genetical and environmental profiles, the Egyptian population is one of the mostunderrepresented population in terms of PD research. In this study, we investigated PD through various perspectives tohighlight the complexity of the disease in Egypt, taking into consideration the diversity of the Egyptian population. We recruited PD patients and reference controls from 4 governorates: Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, and Mansoura to study their genetical and environmental profiles. We collected blood samples and complete clinical, medical, occupational, residential, and family history. Then, we performed several assays such as gene expression, Kompetitive allele specificPCR (KASP) for genotyping, heavy metals assay targeting Al, Cd, Cu, Cr, Mn, Pb, and Ni, and non-target metabolomics. Finally, we statistically correlated and categorized the results in alignment with the clinical data and the completecollected history. Our findings and observations are very promising. We observed that prevalence of the EOPD is higherthan that in other countries. We, also, observed that there is a possible correlation between each of LRRK2 and BCHEK-variant, and pesticides exposure in PD. In our study, we highlighted the complex genetic profile within the Egyptian population in respect to our targeted PD-related genes such as LRRK2, APOE4 and MAPT. Nevertheless, our heavy metals results showed diversity in the distribution among the governorates. On the other hand, and for the first time in PD, we studied the metabolism of phenylalanine via PAL enzyme. This metabolism showed to shift the reaction from producing L-dopa and DA to producing trans cinnamate and ammonia, depriving the neurons from DA and leading to apossible neurotoxicity and, thus, neurodegeneration. Another interesting finding is that we identified a metabolite, 5 Deoxy-5-Methylthioadenosine, that is significantly lower in the K- variant carrier PD patients compared to the non-carrier patients. The reduced levels of the latter metabolite indicate lower glutathione, detoxifying enzyme levels, leaving the K-variant carrier PD patient with higher risk. All these findings and observations showed how complex is the PD profile inthe Egyptian population. 2023-01-31T08:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2172 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3216/viewcontent/Nourhan_Shebl_Thesis.pdf Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain PD Gene-Environment Interaction Metabolomics Phenylalanine K-Variant LRRK2 MAPT APOE Pesticides Exposure Heavy Metals BCHE Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition Environmental Public Health Genetic Structures Medical Biochemistry Medical Genetics Medical Molecular Biology Medical Neurobiology Medical Toxicology
spellingShingle PD
Gene-Environment Interaction
Metabolomics
Phenylalanine
K-Variant
LRRK2
MAPT
APOE
Pesticides
Exposure
Heavy Metals
BCHE
Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition
Environmental Public Health
Genetic Structures
Medical Biochemistry
Medical Genetics
Medical Molecular Biology
Medical Neurobiology
Medical Toxicology
Shebl, Nourhan
Differential Transcriptional Alterations In Detoxification Genes In Parkinson’s Disease In Egypt
title Differential Transcriptional Alterations In Detoxification Genes In Parkinson’s Disease In Egypt
title_full Differential Transcriptional Alterations In Detoxification Genes In Parkinson’s Disease In Egypt
title_fullStr Differential Transcriptional Alterations In Detoxification Genes In Parkinson’s Disease In Egypt
title_full_unstemmed Differential Transcriptional Alterations In Detoxification Genes In Parkinson’s Disease In Egypt
title_short Differential Transcriptional Alterations In Detoxification Genes In Parkinson’s Disease In Egypt
title_sort differential transcriptional alterations in detoxification genes in parkinson s disease in egypt
topic PD
Gene-Environment Interaction
Metabolomics
Phenylalanine
K-Variant
LRRK2
MAPT
APOE
Pesticides
Exposure
Heavy Metals
BCHE
Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition
Environmental Public Health
Genetic Structures
Medical Biochemistry
Medical Genetics
Medical Molecular Biology
Medical Neurobiology
Medical Toxicology
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2172
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3216/viewcontent/Nourhan_Shebl_Thesis.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT sheblnourhan differentialtranscriptionalalterationsindetoxificationgenesinparkinsonsdiseaseinegypt