Oxidative Damage of DNA as Early Marker of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, and its characteristic histopathological hallmarks are neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques. Among involved mechanisms, oxidative stress plays an important role in damaging cell components (e.g., proteins, nucleic acids). In this study, different oxidized products of proteins and DNA were determined in the urine samples from mild cognitive impairment due to AD patients (n = 53) and healthy controls (n = 27) by means of ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis. A multivariate model developed by partial least squares generated a diagnostic model for AD with an AUC-ROC (area under the curve-receiver operating characteristic) of 0.843. From the studied analytes, 8-OHdG (8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine) and the ratio 8-OHdG/2dG (2’-deoxyguanosine) were able to distinguish between AD and healthy participants, showing statistically significant differences between groups, postulating DNA oxidation as a molecular pathway involved in early AD.