Evaluation of the Diagnostic and Predicative Values of 8-Iso-Prostaglandin F2α as a Biomarker of Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) is a commonly reported cancer that is widely prevalent among women. Its early detection improves patient survival and results in better outcomes. For diagnosis and follow-up care, tumor markers are one of the feasible investigations to be ordered. 8-Iso-prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) serves as a serum marker reflecting oxidative stress and subsequent damaging of DNA. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate both diagnostic and predictive values of 8-iso-PGF2α in BC patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum levels of 8-iso-PGF2α were assessed for 66 women with benign breast tumors and 65 women who had malignant BC. To compare the patients who had breast tumors with healthy individuals, 63 women free of breast diseases were selected as controls. RESULTS: The serum level of 8-iso-PGF2α in the BC patients (57.92 pg/mL) was significantly higher compared to those with benign tumors (18.89 pg/mL) (p < 0.001). In addition, individuals with no breast diseases had less 8-iso-PGF2α (4.02 pg/mL) compared to those who had developed a tumor (p < 0.001). Serum 8-iso-PGF2α was found to be positively correlated with both carcinoembryonic antigen (r = 0.74, p < 0.001) and cancer antigen 15-3 (r = 0.80, p < 0.001). Furthermore, serum 8-iso-PGF2α showed high diagnostic performance in BC (AUC = 0.999, sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 99.2% at a cutoff value of 36.18 pg/mL). CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that the high level of serum 8-iso-PGF2α helps to provide a non-invasive indicator to detect BC. Future work with a larger sample size and various phases of BC can confirm the current results which provide insights into the early detection of cancer.

Biomarkers of oxidative stress in acute and chronic bronchial asthma.

OBJECTIVE: Oxidative stress plays an important role in inflammatory diseases of the airways, such as bronchial asthma. This study highlights the effects of the imbalance of oxidant/antioxidant parameters and their roles in the severity of asthma, in order to target the deficiency of antioxidants when treating asthmatic patients. METHODS: The study included 45 male and 45 female subjects, aged 18-48 years, with and without asthma. They were classified into 3 groups: G1 was healthy volunteers (CT, n = 15), G2 included patients with stable (chronic) conditions of asthma from the outpatients department (OP, n = 15), and G3 included patients admitted emergency room (ER, n = 15) with acute asthma attacks. For all subjects, the levels of total antioxidant capacity (TAC), reduced glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and uric acid were colorimetrically estimated. The correlations between the studied parameters were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The levels of TAC and GSH in asthmatic patients, either male or female, were significantly decreased in the ER more than in the OP group as compared to the control (p < 0.001). MDA increased significantly in the ER group and over the OP group when compared with healthy subjects. Significant positive correlations (p < 0.001) were observed between MDA and other studied parameters TAC (r = -0.74), GSH (r = -0.69), and uric acid (r = -0.35). CONCLUSIONS: The levels of total antioxidants were inversely related to the severity of asthma as observed in asthmatic patients visiting outpatient clinics and patients with acute asthmatic attacks admitted to emergency rooms. Meanwhile, those patients with acute attacks showed increased oxidative stress as reflected in the raised MDA levels.