Aim: The present study assess the effect of consumption of alcohol on oxidative stress and antioxidant status in patients suffering from different types of cancer. Methods: This hospital based case control study conducted in the Western part of Nepal covered a total of 93 cancer patients with or without alcohol intake and smoking habits, along with 94 age, sex and habit-matched individuals serving as controls. Plasma thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS), total antioxidant activity (TAA), vitamin C, α-tocopherol and erythrocyte reduced glutathione (GSH) were estimated and compared. Results: The TBARS level was found to be significantly higher (p≤0.001) in all types of cancer patients when compared to controls, being aggravated in alcoholics with a smoking habit. No statistical significance (p≥0.05) was observed in the level of vitamin C and α-tocopherol. GSH and TAA level were significantly decreased (p≤0.001) in all the groups except those who consumed both branded as well as homemade alcohol and non-alcoholics without smoking habit. Conclusion: Alcohol, irrespective of its commercial brand, increases oxidative stress in all types of cancer patients. This is even higher when alcohol intake is combined with a smoking habit. Decreased TAA and GSH are major risk factors for cancer development.

The present study was designed to determine the association between extent of hepatocellular injury and plasma level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) SGOT (F=276.92; P<0.0001) and SGPT (F=355.17; P<0.0001) and differed significantly between cholestatic and control infants. Our findings suggest that oxidative stress in preterm infants with cholestasis is associated with hepatocellular injury.

Background & objectives:Oxidative stress (OS) is associated with numerous components of metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study was aimed to investigate if hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as the reactive oxygen species was capable of depicting OS in MetS, and If MetS patients showed DNA damage in the form of DNA strand breaks (DSB).Methods:A total of 160 participants (90 males, 70 females) ≥20 yr of age were categorized into four groups based on the number of MetS risk parameters (n=40 in each group). Sugar and lipid profile, H2O2 concentration in blood and DNA-strand breaks were measured.Results:DSB was significantly more in those with MetS (n=40) than those without (n=120) whereas H2O2 levels were the same in both the study groups. The number of DSB differed significantly between the control and 3 risk factor groups. DSB was also higher in groups with 2 and 1 risk factors compared to 0 risk but the difference was not significant. H2O2 level was higher in groups with 3, 2 and 1 risk factors compared to 0 risk group but the difference was not significant. The H2O2 level correlated positively with triglyceride values but not with other MetS risk parameters. There was no significant correlation between DSB and MetS risk parameters.Interpretation & conclusions:Our findings showed a cumulative and synergistic effect of the risk factors of MetS on DSB. Individuals with three risk parameters had a greater effect on DNA damage than in those with two or one risk parameter. Although plasma H2O2 level increased with an increase in the fat depots, use of H2O2 to depict OS in MetS should be coupled with an adjunct and estimation of DSB in peripheral blood lymphocytes may be used as indicator of OS in MetS patients.

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