Oxidative stress and total antioxidant capacity in human plasma

While several tools are already available for the separate measurement of the oxidant and antioxidant pools, a single, quick and easy method for determining total oxidative stress would be advantageous. In the present study, we compare the plasma of untreated patients with leukemia/solid gynecological tumors (n = 50) and current regular smokers (n = 50) with a smoking history of >or=10 cigarettes per day to the plasma of healthy blood donors. Standard tools were used to measure total oxidant status, ceruloplasmin activity, total antioxidant capacity, uric acid content and oxidative stress index. Oxidative stress was also evaluated using the controversial d-ROMs test, a commercial method of reactive oxygen species detection. Statistically significant differences between the smokers and the control group were detected for all of the biochemical parameters. Conversely, the differences in the cancer patients were not statistically significant for oxidative stress.