Oxidative stress-related enzyme polymorphisms associated with the immunological biomarkers levels in heavy drinkers in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Excessive alcohol intake can result in the oxidative stress in cells and the genetic variations of alcohol-metabolizing enzymes are responsible for the different degrees of toxicity of alcohol in several organs, such as the liver and immunological systems. We hypothesized that the alteration of oxidative stress due to some genetic variations of oxidative stress-related enzymes could result in changes of specific biomarkers, and heavy drinkers could be cautioned about the predictive likelihood to induce drinking-induced diseases. METHODS: A total of 108 heavy drinkers and 106 nonheavy drinkers were enrolled and the hematological, biochemical, and immunological tests were measured; the genotypes of oxidative stress-related enzymes, including manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD1183T>C), glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1Pro198Leu), catalase (CAT-262C>T), and myeloperoxidase (MPO-463G>A), were assayed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). RESULTS: For the males, the levels of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), malondialdehyde (MDA), CD4(+), immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM), and IL-6 were significantly different between the two groups. Furthermore, there were higher proportions of CD19(+) cells and lower TNF-α levels in heavy drinkers with the MnSOD C carriers, and there were higher percentages of CD19(+) cells and IL-6 levels in heavy drinkers with the combined genotypes of MnSOD C carriers and MPO A carriers. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that heavy drinkers may be cautioned predictive likelihood for them to induce drinking-induced diseases by analyzing their MnSOD genotypes and immunological biomarkers.

Novel spectrophotometric method for the quantitation of urinary xanthurenic acid and its application in identifying individuals with hyperhomocysteinemia associated with Vitamin B6 deficiency.

A novel spectrophotometric method for the quantification of urinary xanthurenic acid (XA) is described. The direct acid ferric reduction (DAFR) procedure was used to quantify XA after it was purified by a solid-phase extraction column. The linearity of proposed method extends from 2.5 to 100.0 mg/L. The method is precise, yielding day-to-day CVs for two pooled controls of 3.5% and 4.6%, respectively. Correlation studies with an established HPLC method and a fluorometric procedure showed correlation coefficients of 0.98 and 0.98, respectively. Interference from various urinary metabolites was insignificant. In a small-scale screening of elderly conducted at Penghu county in Taiwan (n = 80), we were able to identify a group of twenty individuals having hyperhomocysteinemia (>15 µ mole/L). Three of them were found to be positive for XA as analyzed by the proposed method, which correlated excellently with the results of the activation coefficient method for RBC's AST/B6 functional test. These data confirm the usefulness of the proposed method for identifying urinary XA as an indicator of vitamin B6 deficiency-associated hyperhomocysteinemic condition.