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Karen Bedard and Karl-Heinz Krause

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278 KAREN BEDARD AND KARL-HEINZ KRAUSE<br />

identify a low ROS generating variant of p47 phox as an<br />

aggravating factor for autoimmune encephalitis (71).<br />

Thus the role of NOX autoimmune encephalitis lies in the<br />

boundary between the situation in neurodegenerative disease,<br />

where ROS are disease-causing factors <strong>and</strong> autoimmune<br />

disease where ROS appear protective.<br />

E. Endocrinology<br />

There is very strong evidence for an involvement of<br />

NOX family NADPH oxidase in thyroid function. There is<br />

also increasing evidence for their role in dysfunction of<br />

the endocrine pancreas <strong>and</strong> in the development of diabetes.<br />

In other endocrine organs, there is little evidence for<br />

a role of NOX family enzymes, albeit some immunolocalization<br />

data exist (491, 492).<br />

1. Thyroid<br />

H2O2 generation by thyrocytes was described by the<br />

early 1980s (88, 921), <strong>and</strong> an NADPH oxidase activity was<br />

quickly suggested to be the underlying mechanism (605).<br />

The discovery of the DUOX enzymes (see above) provided<br />

the molecular basis for the thyrocyte ROS generation.<br />

The physiological role of DUOX in the thyroid is well<br />

studied <strong>and</strong> well understood. Synthesis of thyroid hormones<br />

requires hydrogen peroxide for oxidation <strong>and</strong> incorporation<br />

of iodine into thyroglobulin. DUOX provides<br />

the hydrogen peroxide for this reaction. Despite the presence<br />

of a peroxidase homology domain in DUOX enzymes,<br />

the peroxidase reaction requires a separate enzyme,<br />

namely, the thyroid peroxidase. The biochemical<br />

demonstration of DUOX function is strongly supported by<br />

recent data on patients with mutations in DUOX genes<br />

(629, 690). Biallelic inactivating mutations in the DUOX2<br />

gene result in complete disruption of thyroid-hormone<br />

synthesis <strong>and</strong> are associated with severe <strong>and</strong> permanent<br />

congenital hypothyroidism, while monoallelic mutations<br />

are associated with milder, transient hypothyroidism<br />

(630). DUOX2 sequence variants associated with mild<br />

hypothyroidism have also been described (918). An unresolved<br />

issue is the question why DUOX1 cannot substitute<br />

for DUOX2 in thyroid hormone synthesis. DUOX1 is<br />

clearly expressed in the thyroid <strong>and</strong> is from a structural<br />

point of view very similar to DUOX2. Yet, DUOX2 mutations<br />

lead to a severe phenotype, while, to our knowledge,<br />

no DUOX1 mutations leading to hypothyroidism have<br />

been described.<br />

2. Endocrine pancreas<br />

At least under pathological conditions such as hyperglycemia,<br />

oxidative stress can be detected in pancreatic<br />

islet �-cells (405, 960). In contrast, islet cells appear to<br />

have a very low antioxidant capacity (318). Chronic long-<br />

Physiol Rev VOL 87 JANUARY 2007 www.prv.org<br />

term exposure to ROS has been associated with impairment<br />

of �-cell function <strong>and</strong> with complications of diabetes<br />

(305). Different sources for ROS generation by islets<br />

have been suggested; these include mitochondria <strong>and</strong>,<br />

more recently, NADPH oxidase isoforms (665, 886). Both<br />

NOX2 (protein) (648) <strong>and</strong> NOX4 (mRNA) (250) are expressed<br />

in �-cells. In both studies, an increased expression<br />

of these NOX isoforms in animal models of diabetes<br />

has been proposed (250, 648). Thus a role of ROS in the<br />

development of �-cell failure in diabetes has been widely<br />

discussed. In line with this concept are observations that<br />

glucose toxicity can be prevented by antioxidants (861).<br />

F. Gastrointestinal System <strong>and</strong> Liver<br />

1. Stomach <strong>and</strong> Helicobacter<br />

Gastric epithelium is able to generate ROS. The traditionally<br />

held view is that sources of radicals in the<br />

gastrointestinal tract include mucosal xanthine oxidase<br />

<strong>and</strong> NADPH oxidase found in the resident leukocytes of<br />

the lamina propria (670). However, more recent results<br />

suggest that NOX family NADPH oxidases might also be<br />

expressed in gastric epithelial cells. This question has<br />

been addressed predominantly in guinea pig stomach,<br />

where ROS generation by gastric mucosa has been convincingly<br />

documented (869). On the basis of several lines<br />

of evidence, NOX-type NADPH oxidases were identified<br />

as the source of this ROS generation. The responsible<br />

enzyme was initially suggested to be NOX2 based on<br />

activity <strong>and</strong> expression at the protein level (870); however,<br />

more recent results based on mRNA suggest that it<br />

is rather NOX1 (868). Helicobacter pylori lipopolysaccharide<br />

activates NOX1 <strong>and</strong> increases expression levels of<br />

NOX1 <strong>and</strong> its cytosolic subunit NOXO1 (443, 447, 870).<br />

However, the expression of NOX1 in the stomach might<br />

be species specific. In the human stomach, message for<br />

NOX2 <strong>and</strong> NOX5, but not NOX1, is found (770). In the dog<br />

stomach, Northern blot analysis suggests the expression<br />

of DUOX2 (189). In the mouse system, the expression<br />

profile of NOX enzymes in the stomach has, to our knowledge,<br />

not been studied. The underst<strong>and</strong>ing of the role<br />

played by NOX enzymes in the stomach is at a preliminary<br />

stage. In the guinea pig, NOX1 is suggested to be involved<br />

in the regulation of growth <strong>and</strong> apoptosis of gastric mucosal<br />

cells (868). In mice, the role of NOX2 in response to<br />

anti-inflammatory agents <strong>and</strong> infection has been studied.<br />

NOX2-deficient mice are less susceptible to nonsteroidal<br />

anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) injury than wild-type<br />

mice (72), raising the possibility that NOX2 is involved in<br />

gastric injury by NSAID. Two studies have investigated<br />

gastric Helicobacter pylori infection <strong>and</strong> found markedly<br />

increased inflammation in NOX2-deficient mice (90, 450).<br />

Importantly, this was not due to a decreased host defense<br />

function, as bacterial load was either comparable (450) or<br />

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