On the potential increase of the oxidative stress status in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm.
BACKGROUND
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a major cause of preventable deaths in older patients. Oxidative stress has been suggested to play a key role in the pathogenesis of AAA. However, only few studies have been conducted to evaluate the blood oxidative stress status of AAA patients.


RESULTS
Twenty seven AAA patients (mean age of 70 years) divided into two groups according to AAA size (≤ 50 or > 50 mm) were compared with an age-matched group of 18 healthy subjects. Antioxidants (vitamins C and E, β-carotene, glutathione, thiols, and ubiquinone), trace elements (selenium, copper, zinc, and copper/zinc ratio) and markers of oxidative damage to lipids (lipid peroxides, antibodies against oxidized patients, and isoprostanes) were measured in each subject. The comparison of the three groups by ordinal logistic regression showed a significant decrease of the plasma levels of vitamin C (P = 0.011), α-tocopherol (P = 0.016) but not when corrected for cholesterol values, β-carotene (P = 0.0096), ubiquinone (P = 0.014), zinc (P = 0.0035), and of selenium (P = 0.0038), as AAA size increased. By contrast, specific markers of lipid peroxidation such as the Cu/Zn ratio (P = 0.046) and to a lesser extent isoprostanes (P = 0.052) increased.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study emphasizes the potential role of the oxidative stress in AAA disease and suggests that an antioxidant therapy could be of interest to delay AAA progression.
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Liège, CHU Sart Tilman, Liège, Belgium. J.Pincemail@chu.ulg.ac.be
J
J
Pincemail
J O
JO
Defraigne
J P
JP
Cheramy-Bien
N
N
Dardenne
A F
AF
Donneau
A
A
Albert
N
N
Labropoulos
N
N
Sakalihasan
D000368:Aged; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism*; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003300:Copper / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D028421:Isoprostanes / Q000097:blood; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000097:blood*; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000097:blood
D000975:Antioxidants; D015415:Biomarkers; D028421:Isoprostanes; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D014131:Trace Elements; D003300:Copper; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol; D015032:Zinc; D001205:Ascorbic Acid