title: A panel of oxidative stress assays does not provide supplementary diagnostic information in Behcet's disease patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent findings suggest a role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of Behcet's disease (BD), but the utility of oxidative stress-associated assays in offering diagnostic information or in the monitoring of disease activity is largely unassessed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to measure oxidative and inflammatory markers, along with the markers of reactive nitrogen species, S-nitrosothiols and 3-nitrotyrosine, in BD patients (n = 100) and healthy volunteers (n = 50). These markers were evaluated in regard to their role in the pathogenesis of BD as well as their relation to clinical presentation, disease activity and duration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median values for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein, leukocyte count, and IL-18 levels, as well as myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, were statistically higher in the patient group compared to controls. Some inflammation markers (ESR, neutrophil and leukocyte counts) were statistically higher (p < 0.05) in the active period. In contrast, oxidative stress-associated measures (erythrocyte lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzymes and measures of serum antioxidant capacity), revealed no statistically significant differences between the median values in BD patients versus healthy control subjects (p > 0.05 in all statistical comparisons), nor was there any difference in median levels of these oxidative stress markers in active disease versus disease remission. S-nitrosothiols and 3-nitrotyrosine were undetectable in BD plasma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The application of oxidative stress-associated measures to BD blood samples offered no supplemental diagnostic or disease activity information to that provided by standard laboratory measures of inflammation. S-nitrosothiols and 3-nitrotyrosine appeared not to be markers for active BD; thus the search for biochemical markers that will indicate the active period should be continued with larger studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Ege University, School of Medicine, 35100 Bornova, Izmir, Turkey. yasemin.akcay@ege.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Yasemin D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Akcay
authors.forename: Ferhan G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Sagin
authors.forename: Kenan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aksu
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Keser
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Iona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Winyard
authors.forename: Eser Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Sozmen