Antioxidant System and Oxidative Stress in Uterine Cervical Neoplasia of Korean women

Kim, Jae Wook; Choi, Eun Kyoung; Lim, Jae Hak; Kim, Young Tae; Kim, Dong Kyu; Lee, Yang Cha; Kim, Soo Yeon; Chung, Hae Yeon

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to compare the plasma levels of antioxidant system and oxidative stress of cervical neoplasia patients to normal control, and to investigate the relationship between the plasma antioxidant system and various clinicopathological factors of cervical cancer.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
A cross-sectional sample of 90 cervical neoplasia patients and 90 normal control group was recruited from Nov. 2000 to Jan. 2001 at Yonsei University Medical Center. As the parameter of lipid peroxidation, plasma concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) was spectrophotomerically measured. Plasma levels of antioxidant vitamins were analyzed by reverse-phase high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity was measured by coupled enzyme procedure. The correlation between the results and various clinicopathological factors of cervical cancer were evaluated.
RESULTS
In women with cervical neoplasia, the activity of GSH-Px and plasma levels of antioxidant vitamins such as lutein, beta-carotene, lycopene and zeaxanthin were significantly lower compared to normal control, while the concentration of MDA was significantly higher. However, between CIN and cervical cancer, only the levels of alpha-tocopherol and MDA showed significant differences. The changes in plasma antioxidant system showed no significant correlation with the prognostic factors of cervical cancer.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest a potential role of oxidative stress-induced lipid peroxidation and the impairment of antioxidant system in the pathogenesis of cervical neoplasia. However, these changes failed to define a causal relationship between the antioxidant system and disease outcome, or to show a significant correlation between several antioxidant parameters and the prognostic factors of cervical cancer.