Cytostatic therapy and blood antioxidants/prooxidants balance in acute myeloblastic leukemia patients

To analyze the effects of conventional polychemotherapy of acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) patients on the prooxidants/antioxidants balance in plasma total antioxidant status (TAS) and a single plasma antioxidant — uric acid (UA) were measured. Lipid peroxidation was assessed by malonedialdehyde (MDA) content. Total serum iron was monitored as a potential source of nontransferrin-bound iron with a role in initiation of oxidative burst. A group of patients in the acute phase of AML (group A) and a group of patients in complete remission of AML (group B) were studied. A strong correlation between UA values and TAS (r = 0.8 for group A, r = 0.9 for group B) was revealed in the course of the treatment. Strong negative correlation (r = −0.9) between TAS and MDA was shown for both groups. Total iron significantly increased in the course of chemotherapy. We have established that polychemotherapy leads to the consumption of antioxidants and increased lipid peroxidation in AML patients. An appropriate supplementation with antioxidants at the end of the polychemotherapy treatment could be considered.