Dr. Juan C. Díaz Zagoya

Study of Lipid Metabolism

OBJECTIVES

• Study of lipids in different experimental conditions or in pathological processes in which there is an alteration in metabolism.

SUMMARY

1. A study is being done of recessive ichthyosis linked to the X chromosome, a disease in which there is a steroid sulfatase deficiency, accumulating cholesterol sulfate in the skin, erythrocyte, etc. The incidence of this disorder is high, exceeding that of ichthyosis vulgaris in a proportion of 4:1. Of 20 cases studied, all except one show steroid sulfatase gene deletion. The enzyme is valued in leukocytes using dehydropiandrosterone-sulfate as substrate.

2 In hypercholesterolemic mice, acute death is produced when megadoses of some vastatins, such as lovastatin, are administered inhibiting the 3-hydroxy-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase.

In the mitochondria of a normal mouse liver or of a mouse treated with a vastatin/hyperlipidemic diet, alterations are produced on adding some vastatins in vitro. These alterations are valued measuring the electron transportation capacity and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in the presence of variable amounts of vastatins.

3 A fatty liver is produced in the mouse through various experimental procedures: an elevated amount of fructose in the diet, the administration of ethanol in a chronic way or producing experimental diabetes. The protective role of Spirulina maxima en preventing a fatty liver is evaluated in these models.

Other varieties of Spirulina obtained in cultures will be tested in the Ecology Institute in Jalapa, Veracruz where the composition has been modified, which could: a) change the protective effects and b) help to discover which part of the Spirulina protects against fatty liver formation.

PARTICIPANTS

• Juan Carlos Asenjo Barrón, B.Sc.
• Jorge Ble Castillo, B.Sc.
• Rebeca Briones Niño, B.Sc.
• Sergio Cuevas Covarrubias, M.Sc.
• Rodrigo Miranda Zamora, B.Sc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• 1. González de Rivera, C., Miranda Zamora, R., Díaz Zagoya, J.C. and Juárez Oropeza, M.A. (1993) Preventive effect of Spirulina maxima on the fatty acid liver induced by a fructose-rich diet in the rat. Life Sciences 53 (1): 57-61.
• 2. Cuevas-Covarrubias SA, Miranda-Zamora R, Juárez-Oropeza MA and Díaz-Zagoya JC. (1993) Comparative analysis of erythrocyte fatty acid composition in a sample of Mexico City children and young adults on a free diet. Arch Medical Research 24: 327-331.
• 3. Cuevas-Covarrubias SA, Juárez-Oropeza MA, Miranda-Zamora R and Díaz-Zagoya JC. (1993) Comparative analysis of human steroid sulfatase activity in prepubertal and pospubertal males and females. Biochem and Molec Biology Internat 30:691-695.
• 4. Cuevas-Covarrubias S A, Rojo-Callejas F, Juárez-Oropeza MA and Díaz-Zagoya JC. (1994) Los ácidos grasos eritrocíticos de niños con desnutrición proteica grave. Rev Invest. Clín 46: 197-201.
• 5. Cuevas-Covarrubias S A, Kofman-Alfaro S H, Rivera-Vega and Díaz-Zagoya J C. (1994) Inguinal hernia in recessive x-linked ichthyosis. The J of Dermatol 21 (12): 985.
• 6. Cuevas-Covarrubias SA, Kofman-Alfaro S H, Rivera-Vega MR, Beirana Palencia A and Díaz-Zagoya JC. (1995) The biochemical identification of carrier state in mothers of sporadic cases of x-linked recessive ichthyosis. Genetic Counseling 6 (1): 103-107.
• 7. Cuevas-Covarrubias SA, Kofman-Alfaro S, Beirana-Placencia A and Díaz-Zagoya JC. (1996) Accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of recessive x-linked and ichthyosis vulgarias. The J of Dermatol 23(3).