Human leukocytes from 6 volunteers before and 2h after pectin capsules consumption (I)

Methanol (MeOH) is considered to be a poison in humans because of the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH)-mediated conversion of MeOH into toxic formaldehyde (FA). Our recent genome-wide analysis of the mouse brain demonstrated that an increase in endogenous MeOH after ADH inhibition led to a significant increase in the plasma MeOH concentration and the modification of mRNA synthesis. These findings suggest endogenous MeOH involvement in homeostasis regulation by controlling mRNA levels. Here, we demonstrate directly that study volunteers displayed increasing concentrations of MeOH and FA in their blood plasma when consuming citrus pectin, ethanol and red wine. A microarray analysis of white blood cells (WBC) in volunteers after pectin intake showed various responses for 30 differentially regulated mRNAs. Most of the mRNAs were somehow involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). There was also a decreased synthesis of hemoglobin mRNA, HBA and HBB, the presence of which in WBC RNA was not a result of red blood cells contamination because erythrocyte-specific marker genes did not show significant change. A qRT-PCR analysis of volunteer WBC after pectin and red wine intake confirmed the complicated dependence between plasma MeOH content and the mRNA accumulation of previously identified genes, namely GAPDH and SNX27, and MME, SORL1, DDIT4, HBA and HBB genes revealed in this study. We hypothesized that human plasma MeOH, which is replenished from endogenous and exogenous sources (diet), has an impact on the WBC mRNA levels of genes involved in AD pathogenesis and signaling.

12

Shindyapina AV, Petrunia IV, Komarova TV, Sheshukova EV, Kosorukov VS, Kiryanov GI, Dorokhov YL