Abstract:
Reactive oxygen species including radicals and non-radicals are normally
generated in the body from metabolism processes and can be counteracted by
antioxidant systems. These reactive species play an important role in several
degenerative diseases. They are causative of some diseases or overproduced
during a disease. The overproduction of reactive species in disease condition
exceeds the ability of antioxidant systems. These harmful species will contribute
to disease development and severity since reactive species and antioxidants are
unbalanced. This condition is known as oxidative stress and leads to the damage
of biomolecules, such as lipids, proteins and DNA.
Thalassemia is a genetic disease with reports of oxidative stress resulting
from iron overload. However, there are only a few studies on oxidative stress in
thalassemia, especially in Thailand. Monitoring oxidative stress status and
therapeutic antioxidant supplements can reduce disease severity and development.
Monitoring oxidative stress is usually performed by quantitative determination of
oxidized molecules. Unfortunately, sensitivity and selectivity of analysis method
and complicated sample matrices are problems.
In this thesis, sample pretreatment, high-performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatograpy/mass spectrometric methods
(GC/MS) were used to determine DNA oxidative damage product (8-hydroxy-2′-
deoxyguanosine, (8-OHdG)), protein oxidative damage products (ortho- and
meta-tyrosine) and lipid peroxidation products (F2-isoprostanes, (F2IsoPs)) in
urine and plasma from thalassemic patients and healthy volunteers. In addition,
determination of creatinine, the compound used to normalize the variable volume
of urine samples, using a modified HPLC method was carried out.
The results showed that the levels of all oxidative damage markers
measured in patients were significantly higher than those of healthy subjects.
Moreover, high levels of some oxidized markers correlated with different
antioxidant levels. These results also indicated that sample preparation procedure
and the developed HPLC method are valid and reliable. The chromatographic
methods used in this study can be applied to determine oxidative damage markers
at in vivo levels.