Activity and content of antioxidant enzymes in prostate tumors

To investigate the antioxidant enzyme system in blood of men with benign hyperplasia of prostate (BHP) and with prostate adenocarcinoma (CaP).

The spectrophotometrical methods were applied to study content and activity changes of superoxide-dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ceruloplasmin (Cp), tripeptide glutathione (GSH), glutathione-peroxidase (GSH-Px), and glutathione-reductase (GR). Lipid peroxidation was evaluated using thiobarbituric acid (TBA)-test. Blood plasma and erythrocytes of men with prostate tumors served as the material for the studies; n = 15 for each group.

SOD activity was increased in BHP (24.65 +/- 1.20 U/microl) and decreased in CaP (11.45 +/- 0.89 U/microl), CAT activity remained unaltered in BHP (12.41 +/- 0.85 mcat/ml) and was slightly declined in CaP (9.52 +/- 0.56 mcat/ml). Cp was increased in both kind of tumors, especially in CaP (54.27 +/- 7.22 mg%), as well as GSH (0.736 +/- 0.07 microM/l) and GR (0.031 +/- 0.002 microM/g.Hemogl/min). GSH-Px was sharply increased in BHP (0.67 +/- 0.05 microM/g.Hemogl/min) and reduced in CaP (0.16 +/- 0.01 microM/g.Hemogl/min).

The development of BHP reflects relatively weakly on blood system as activity and content of antioxidant enzymes are not revealing marked changes in this disease. The significant changes are revealed in case of CaP, showing the reduced functional state of blood antioxidant enzyme system.