Neopterin, Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress: What Could We Be Missing?
1
Free Radical Biochemistry Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
2
Department of Radiology, University of Otago Christchurch, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
3
Division of Rehabilitation Science and Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Antioxidants 2018, 7(7), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox7070080
Received: 12 April 2018
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Revised: 18 June 2018
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Accepted: 22 June 2018
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Published: 26 June 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Antioxidants in 2018)
Neopterin has been extensively used as a clinical marker of immune activation during inflammation in a wide range of conditions and stresses. However, the analysis of neopterin alone neglects the cellular reactions that generate it in response to interferon-γ. Neopterin is the oxidation product of 7,8-dihydroneopterin, which is a potent antioxidant generated by interferon-γ-activated macrophages. 7,8-Dihydroneopterin can protect macrophage cells from a range of oxidants through a scavenging reaction that generates either neopterin or dihydroxanthopterin, depending on the oxidant. Therefore, plasma and urinary neopterin levels are dependent on both macrophage activation to generate 7,8-dihydroneopterin and subsequent oxidation to neopterin. This relationship is clearly shown in studies of exercise and impact-induced injury during intense contact sport. Here, we argue that neopterin and total neopterin, which is the combined value of 7,8-dihydroneopterin and neopterin, could provide a more comprehensive analysis of clinical inflammation than neopterin alone.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Gieseg, S.P.; Baxter-Parker, G.; Lindsay, A. Neopterin, Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress: What Could We Be Missing? Antioxidants 2018, 7, 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox7070080
AMA Style
Gieseg SP, Baxter-Parker G, Lindsay A. Neopterin, Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress: What Could We Be Missing? Antioxidants. 2018; 7(7):80. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox7070080
Chicago/Turabian StyleGieseg, Steven P., Gregory Baxter-Parker, and Angus Lindsay. 2018. "Neopterin, Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress: What Could We Be Missing?" Antioxidants 7, no. 7: 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox7070080
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