| First Author | Gupta S | Year | 2009 |
| Journal | FASEB J | Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 883-93 |
| PubMed ID | 18987302 | Mgi Jnum | J:146092 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3836681 | Doi | 10.1096/fj.08-120584 |
| Citation | Gupta S, et al. (2009) Mouse models of cystathionine beta-synthase deficiency reveal significant threshold effects of hyperhomocysteinemia. FASEB J 23(3):883-93 |
| abstractText | Untreated cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) deficiency in humans is characterized by extremely elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy>200 microM), with thrombosis as the major cause of morbidity. Treatment with vitamins and diet leads to a dramatic reduction in thrombotic events, even though patients often still have severe elevations in tHcy (>80 microM). To understand the difference between extreme and severe hyperhomocysteinemia, we have examined two mouse models of CBS deficiency: Tg-hCBS Cbs(-/-) mice, with a mean serum tHcy of 169 microM, and Tg-I278T Cbs(-/-) mice, with a mean tHcy of 296 microM. Only Tg-I278T Cbs(-/-) animals exhibited strong biological phenotypes, including facial alopecia, osteoporosis, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the liver and kidney, and a 20% reduction in mean survival time. Metabolic profiling of serum and liver reveals that Tg-I278T Cbs(-/-) mice have significantly elevated levels of free oxidized homocysteine but not protein-bound homocysteine in serum and elevation of all forms of homocysteine and S-adenosylhomocysteine in the liver compared to Tg-hCBS Cbs(-/-) mice. RNA profiling of livers indicate that Tg-I278T Cbs(-/-) and Tg-hCBS Cbs(-/-) mice have unique gene signatures, with minimal overlap. Our results indicate that there is a clear pathogenic threshold effect for tHcy and bring into question the idea that mild elevations in tHcy are directly pathogenic. |
