Influence of intensive multifunctional neurorehabilitation on neuronal oxidative damage in patients with Huntington's disease

The influence of intensive multifunctional neurorehabilitation on serum levels of Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), as markers of oxidative damage, was evaluated in symptomatic patients with Huntington's disease (HD). Improved clinical outcome measures were observed after neurorehabilitation. Baseline levels of Cu/Zn-SOD, NSE and 8-OHdG were higher than those observed in controls. Cu/Zn-SOD and NSE values decreased after neurorehabilitation, but were still higher than those measured in controls. Cu/Zn-SOD and NSE correlated positively before (r=0.659; p=0.003) and after rehabilitation (r=0.553, p=0.017). 8-OHdG values decreased after neurorehabilitation without reaching significance when compared with baseline values (p=0.145). No correlation was observed between the measured oxidative markers and the assessed clinical outcome measures, either before or after neurorehabilitation. The findings reported in the present paper provide evidence of the effectiveness of neurorehabilitation in reducing oxidative damage in HD patients and underline the limit of serum oxidative markers for the evaluation of clinical features of HD.