Dynamic thiol-disulfide homeostasis is disturbed in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Background:Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Plasma thiols are major defense mechanisms against oxidative stress and undergo oxidation to form disulfides under oxidative conditions. This study was conducted to investigate thiol-disulfide homeostasis in NAFLD patients.Methods:Thirty patients with biopsy proven non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), 40 patients with simple steatosis and 50 healthy controls were included in the study. Serum total and native thiol concentrations and serum disulfide concentration were measured using the Erel and Neselioglu’s method.Results:The mean serum total thiol concentrations in the NASH, simple steatosis and control groups were 415±64 μmol/L, 447±38 μmol/L and 480±37 μmol/L, respectively (p<0.001). The mean serum native thiol concentrations in the NASH, simple steatosis and control groups were 378±62 μmol/L, 416±41 μmol/L and 451±36 μmol/L, respectively (p<0.001). The mean serum disulfide concentrations in the NASH, simple steatosis and control groups were 18.5±6.3 μmol/L, 15.5±4.8 μmol/L and 14.9±3.6 μmol/L, respectively (p=0.005). The native thiol/total thiol ratio was significantly lower and the disulfide/total thiol and disulfide/native thiol ratios were significantly higher in the NASH group than in the simple steatosis and control groups.Conclusions:Thiol-disulfide homeostasis is disturbed and shifted toward disulfide side in NAFLD and NASH patients.

Oxidative stress is associated with suspected non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease and all‐cause mortality in the general population

“…Altered serum thiol balance in NAFLD has been reported in only one study before. Asil et al reported that serum total thiols were reduced in patients with NASH and simple steatosis as compared to healthy controls (n = 90) 16 . In comparison to our data, that study focused on total/native thiol ratios, included relatively low numbers of patients and applied liver biopsy to define NAFLD.…”

“…Changes in serum free thiol levels have been reported for many risk factors in which reactive species are known to play a prominent role, such as ageing, smoking, alcohol consumption, as well as for several diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), cardiovascular disease (CVD), obesity and ischaemia‐reperfusion injury 13‐15 . Only one study reported that total serum thiol concentration is reduced while thiol‐disulphide level is increased in NASH patients, compared to healthy controls 16 …”

Ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) and dynamic thiol-disulfide homeostasis in patients with postherpetic neuralgia

“…When an oxidant interacts with a thiol group, the thiol is oxidized to form a disulfide at the same time neutralizing the oxidant substance to relatively less toxic by-products. Plasma levels of total thiol, native thiol and disulfide are increasingly investigated in the clinical diagnosis and follow-up of numerous diseases and metabolic disorders [16,17]. Our finding indicates the shifting of dynamic thiol/disulfide homeostasis toward the disulfide side which implies the presence of oxidative stress in PHN patients.…”

Dynamic thiol-disulfide homeostasis is disturbed in hepatitis B virus-related chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis

“…Recently, Erel and Neselioglu developed a novel, simple, and automated method to measure serum total thiol, native thiol, and disulfide concentrations allowing accurate determination of serum dynamic thioldisulfide homeostasis (13). Using this novel method, disturbances in dynamic thiol-disulfide homeostasis were shown in several diseases (14)(15)(16)(17). As previously stated, oxidative stress has also been implicated to contribute to the pathogenesis of HBV-related chronic liver diseases and HCC.…”