title: The thrombotic events in polycythemia vera patients may be related to increased oxidative stress.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oxidative stress parameters were increased in PV patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Internal Medicine, Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Durmus
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mentese
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Aysegul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sumer
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Akalin
authors.forename: Cevat
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Topal
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alver
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D001241:Aspirin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000737:chemistry; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006918:Hydroxyurea / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D018962:Phlebotomy; D011087:Polycythemia Vera / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D008055:Lipids; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D001241:Aspirin; D006918:Hydroxyurea