thrombotic events in polycythemia vera patients may be related to increased oxidative stress

This study was designed to compare the oxidative stress parameters of patients with polycythemia vera [PV] to those of healthy volunteers and to investigate the probable relationship between vascular events and parameters of oxidative status such as total oxidative status [TOS], total antioxidant status, oxidative stress index [OSI] and malondialdehyde [MDA] in PV patients. Thirty-five PV patients [20 males and 15 females] and 20 healthy volunteers [11 males and 9 females] were enrolled. The oxidative status parameters of the patients were measured by spectrophotometric analyses at the time of diagnosis and at 6 months after treatment which consisted of phlebotomy and 100 mg/day acetyl salicylic acid with or without hydroxyurea for the high- and low-risk disease group, respectively. These parameters were compared both to healthy controls and to each other, in order to obtain the values before and after treatment. In addition, during diagnosis, the oxidative status parameters of patients with PV and a history of a vascular event were compared with those of patients with no history of a vascular event. The TOS, OSI and MDA values were significantly higher in the patients than in the control group at the time of diagnosis. At 6 months after phlebotomy and 100 mg/day acetyl salicylic acid therapy, the TOS, OSI and MDA values were significantly lower in the patients when compared to the pretreatment values. The TOS and OSI levels were notably higher in the patients with a vascular-event history than in those without this history. Oxidative stress parameters were increased in PV patients

Anti-carbonic anhydrase II antibodies in end-stage renal disease patients

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of anti-carbonic anhydrase [CA II] autoantibodies in patients with end-stage renal disease [ESRD] and relationships between the autoantibody titers and ghrelin, glucose, blood urea nitrogen [BUN] and creatinine. Serum CA II autoantibody titers, malondialdehyde [MDA], BUN, creatinine and ghrelin levels were measured in 45 ESRD patients and 45 healthy subjects. The CA II autoantibody titers in the ESRD group [0.170 +/- 0.237] were significantly higher than those in the control group [0.079 +/- 0.032; p = 0.035]. MDA and ghrelin levels were also significantly higher in the ESRD group [p < 0.001]. A weak positive correlation was determined between anti-CA II antibody titers and MDA, and a negative correlation was observed between ghrelin levels and anti-CA II antibody titers [r = 0.287, p = 0.028 and r = -0.278, p = 0.032, respectively].In ESRD patients, the results showed the development of an autoimmune response against CA II. This suggests that anti-CA II antibodies could be involved in the pathogenesis of ESRD