Correlation of oxidative stress and the loss of the nicotinic receptor alpha 4 subunit in the temporal cortex of patients with Alzheimer's disease

The correlation between oxidative stress and the loss of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) alpha4 subunit has been investigated in the temporal cortex from patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The level of lipid peroxidation was significantly increased in AD brains, whereas there were no significant changes in protein oxidation either in whole tissues or the cellular membrane protein parts between AD brains and controls. The nAChR alpha4 subunit at protein level was significantly decreased in AD brains. Furthermore, there was a correlation between the increased levels of lipid peroxidation and the decreased numbers of the alpha4 subunit protein in AD brains. We suggest that lipid peroxidation might be a sensitive target in AD brain and related the mechanism of the loss of the nAChR alpha4 subunit in the disease.