Antioxidant status in breast cancer patients of different ages after radiotherapy

• Published in: Archives of biological sciences Vol. 61; no. 1; pp. 23 - 28
• Main Authors: Kasapovic, Jelena, Pejic, Snezana, Todorovic, Ana, Stojiljkovic, Vesna, Radosevic-Jelic, Ljiljana, Pajovic, Snezana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Belgrade, University of Novi Sad 2009
• Subjects: Antioxidant enzymes; breast cancer; lipid peroxides
• ISSN: 0354-4664; 1821-4339
• DOI: 10.2298/ABS0901023K

In this study we investigated the effects of breast cancer radiotherapy on the antioxidant (AO) enzyme activities of copper, zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione reductase (GR), as well as on the concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) and lipid peroxides (LP) in blood of patients aged 45-58 years and older than 60 years. The results show that in blood of patients aged 45-58 years, radiotherapy increased the activities of CuZnSOD, CAT, and GR, as well as the concentration of GSH, without affecting the activity of GPx and concentration of LP. In patients older than 60 years, radiotherapy increased the activities of CuZnSOD and CAT, lowered the activity of GPx and concentration of GSH, and increased the concentration of LP. Our results indicate that the response to radiotherapy involves age-related impairment of AO capacity for elimination of H2O2, causing oxidative damage to blood cells. This suggests that cytotoxic effects of radiation on healthy tissues might be more pronounced during the aging of breast cancer patients, and should be considered in the further development of individualization protocols in cancer radiotherapy. U ovom radu ispitivali smo efekte radioterapije kancera dojke na aktivnost atioksidativnih (AO) enzima, bakar, cinksuperoksid dismutaze (CuZnSOD), katalaze (CAT), glutationperoksidaze (GPx) i glutationreduktaze (GR), kao i na koncentraciju redukovanog glutationa(GSH) i lipidnih peroksida(LP) u krvi pacijentkinja starih od 45-58 godina i starijih od 60 godina. Rezultati pokazuju da u krvi pacijentkinja starih 45-58 god., radioterapija indukuje povecanje aktivnosti CuZnSOD, CAT i GR, kao i koncentracije GSH i ne utice na aktivnost GPx i koncentraciju LP. Kod pacijentkinja starijih od 60 god., radioterapija indukuje povecanje aktivnosti CuZnSOD i CAT, snizenje aktivnosti GPx i koncentracije GSH, kao i povecanje koncentracije LP. Nasi rezultati ukazuju da radioterapijski odgovor ukljucuje snizenje AO kapaciteta za uklanjanje H2O2 koje je vezano za starost, uzrokujuci oksidativna ostecenja u celijama krvi. Ovo sugerise da citotoksicni efekat radijacije na zdrava tkiva moze biti izrazeniji tokom starenja pacijentkinja sa kancerom dojke i trebalo bi ga uzeti u obzir prilikom daljeg razvoja individualizacije protokola u radioterapiji kancera.