Research article
δ-ALA-D activity is a reliable marker for oxidative stress in bone marrow transplant patients
-
* Corresponding author: João BT Rocha jbtrocha@yahoo.com.br
1 Departamento de Química, CCNE, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, R.S., Brazil
2 Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, CCS, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil
BMC Cancer 2009, 9:138 doi:10.1186/1471-2407-9-138
Published: 8 May 2009Abstract
Background
Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is often used in the treatment of various diseases. Before BMT, patients are submitted to a conditioning regimen (CR), which consists of the administration of high doses of chemotherapy. The action of many cytostatic drugs involves the overproduction of reactive oxygen species, which together with inadequate antioxidant protection can lead to oxidative stress and this has been implicated in the etiology of various diseases. The objectives of this study were to look for evidence of oxidative stress and also to analyze δ-Aminolevulinato dehydratase (δ-ALA-D) activity as a possible marker of oxidative stress in autologous and allogeneic BMT patients.
Methods
Lipid peroxidation, vitamin C and thiol group levels as well as catalase, superoxide dismutase and δ-ALA-D activity were determined in 37 healthy controls, 13 patients undergoing autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation and 24 patients undergoing allogeneic BMT.
Results
We found that patients presented signs of oxidative stress before they were submitted to BMT, during CR and up to 20 days after BMT. There was a decrease in enzymatic and non enzymatic antioxidant defenses, in δ-ALA-D activity, and an increase in lipoperoxidation in the blood of both patient groups.
Conclusion
This study has indicated that autologous and allogeneic BMT are associated with oxidative stress. Moreover, blood δ-ALA-D activity seems to be an additional biomarker of oxidative stress in BMT patients.