Oxidative stress in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders are common in children and adolescents, and they can significantly impair quality of life. Genetic, neurobiological, neurochemical, and psychological factors are believed to play a role in the etiopathogenesis of anxiety disorders. Recent evidence suggests that the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders may be associated with oxidative stress. In this study, we investigated whether there are associations between children with anxiety disorders and total oxidant/antioxidant status. METHODS: The experimental group consisted of 40 patients (children and adolescents) with anxiety disorders. An age- and gender-matched control group composed of 35 healthy subjects was also assessed. Venous blood samples were collected and total antioxidative status (TAS), total oxidative status (TOS), and the oxidative stress index (OSI) were determined. RESULTS: Both the TOS and the OSI of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group. There were no significant differences in TAS between the experimental and control groups. LIMITATIONS: The main limitation of our study was the small sample size. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that oxidative balance is impaired in children with anxiety disorders. Oxidative stress may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of anxiety disorders, and TOS may be a useful diagnostic tool in this context.

Effects of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 on arginase/nitric oxide pathway in hemodialysis patients.

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) and arginase are recently described inflammatory biomarkers associated with cardiovascular disease. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible effects of serum Lp-PLA2 mass levels on arginase/nitric oxide (NO) pathway as a cardiovascular risk marker in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Forty-three HD patients and 15 healthy subjects were included in this study. Lipid profile, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), albumin, creatinine, body mass index (BMI), Lp-PLA2 and total nitrite levels, and arginase activity were determined in serum samples from patients and control subjects. Lp-PLA2 levels were found to be positively correlated with arginase, triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and age and negatively correlated with high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and total nitrite levels, while there was no correlation with BMI and hs-CRP, albumin, and creatinine levels in HD patients. We conclude that elevated Lp-PLA2 mass levels may contribute to impaired arginase/NO pathway in HD patients and that increased the arginase activity and Lp-PLA2 mass levels with decreased total nitrite levels seem to be useful biochemical markers in terms of reflecting endothelial dysfunction and associated cardiovascular risks in HD patients.

Betaine (trimethylglycine) as a nutritional agent prevents oxidative stress after chronic ethanol consumption in pancreatic tissue of rats.

In this study, we investigated the free radical-mediated cytotoxic effects of chronic ethanol consumption on the pancreatic tissue and a possible cytoprotective effect of betaine as a methyl donor and an important participant in the methionine cycle. Twenty-four male Wistar rats were divided into control, ethanol, and ethanol+betaine groups. Prior to sacrifice, all groups were fed 60 mL/diet per day for two months. Rats in the ethanol group were fed with ethanol 8 g/kg/day. The ethanol+betaine groups were fed ethanol plus betaine (0.5 % w/v). Malondialdehyde levels and adenosine deaminase, superoxide dismutase, and xanthine oxidase activities were determined in pancreatic tissues of rats. Compared to control group, MDA levels increased significantly in the ethanol group (p<0.05). MDA levels in the ethanol+betaine group were significantly decreased compared to the ethanol group (p<0.05). ADA activity in the ethanol+betaine group decreased significantly when compared to the ethanol group (p<0.05). XO activities in ethanol-fed rats were decreased significantly compared to the control group (p<0.05). XO activity in the betaine group was increased significantly (p<0.05) compared to the ethanol group. SOD activity in the ethanol group decreased significantly compared to control group (p<0.001). SOD activity in the ethanol+betaine group decreased significantly (p<0.05) compared to the control group. We think that betaine, as a nutritional methylating agent, may be effective against ethanol-mediated oxidative stress in pancreatic tissue.