Vitamins A, E, microelements and membrane lipid peroxidation in patients with neoplastic disease treated with calcium antagonists and antagonists of receptors H2.
We studied the serum levels of vitamins A, E, zinc and copper in two hundred and twenty-five subjects of both sexes. They were divided into two groups: 87 healthy subjects who served as controls and 138 patients with neoplastic disease. The patients were subdivided according to the absence (n = 79) or the presence of metastatic disease (n =59). In 59 patients with cancer, who were in therapy with scavenger drugs of free radical such as calcium antagonists and the antagonists of receptors H2, we also studied the possible effect of the same therapy on the serum levels of vitamins, on the concentrations of the microelements and on membrane lipid peroxidation. We found that membrane lipid peroxidation, evaluated from the time of in vitro formation in the blood of so-called "Heinz bodies," decreased in all patients treated with scavenger drugs. In these patients the permeability of the erythrocyte membrane was similar to the controls and the serum levels of the vitamins were equal to the levels in patients who did not receive these therapies. Zinc concentration increased while copper remained unchanged. We also studied the levels of vitamins in some organs. The results are discussed considering the role of free radicals. We underline the importance of vitamins A and E in the protection from membranous peroxidation and from free radicals and the need to consider cancer as a systemic morbid event, apart from the contingent actual location.
U.O.C. Thoracic Surgery, Facoltà di Farmacia, University of Messina, Messina, Italy. fdellarovere@unime.it
Filippo
F
della Rovere
Angelo
A
Granata
Rosaria
R
Pavia
Antonio
A
Tomaino
Agata
A
Zirilli
Francesco
F
Monaco
Dario
D
Familiari
Annunziata
A
La Rocca
Riccardo
R
Ientile
Baldassare
B
Mondello
Giacomo
G
Basile
Maurizio
M
Monaco
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability / Q000187:drug effects; D003300:Copper / Q000097:blood*; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000494:pharmacology; D006635:Histamine H2 Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood*; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000097:blood*; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood*
D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D006635:Histamine H2 Antagonists; D014801:Vitamin A; D014810:Vitamin E; D003300:Copper; D015032:Zinc