Assessment of oxidative strength in vivo by using a new indicator of redox potential in physiological in physiological and pathophysiological conditions

Nowadays, the need to simplify methods of determining the redox status of humans is crucial, as oxidative stress has been documented to be linked to several pathological conditions. At the same time, several studies that openly challenge the induction of this condition after intense exercise, make it necessary to examine the body's response to oxidative stimuli, including exercise. In this study, a thorough examination of a new system (Luoxis RedoxSYS), which allows the immediate determination of redox status in human plasma was attempted. The study aimed at identifying the validity of the results provided by this particular diagnostic system in both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. The obtained results were particularly satisfactory in both healthy individuals and patients suffering from Sepsis, Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Specifically, there were significant correlations of the results provided by the diagnostic system with those provided by widely used spectrophotometric assays reliably assessing both antioxidant defense levels of an organism, and levels of oxidative damage in biomolecules. Moreover, a significant conclusion of the present thesis is the lack of homogeneity in the redox status of volunteers after intense exercise. Indeed, an interesting feature that has emerged concerns is the existence of an improved redox condition in individuals after an exercise, a situation referred to as "Reductive Stress" in the literature. Assuming that the athletic background of individuals can affect the body's response to the inflammation following intense exercise and consequently their redox status, a large-scale experiment was conducted and the results confirmed the above hypothesis. Finally, we made an effort to examine the effects of post-exercise reductive stress, focusing on the response of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) to an oxidizing agent. The obtained data suggested that reductive stress is a protective mechanism, at least when followed by an oxidizing stimulus, making it the first work that clearly highlights the beneficial effects of this condition on the organismΤα τελευταία χρόνια η ανάγκη για απλούστευση των μεθόδων προσδιορισμού της οξειδοαναγωγικής κατάστασης των ανθρώπων είναι στην επικαιρότητα καθώς το οξειδωτικό στρες έχει τεκμηριωμένα συνδεθεί με αρκετές παθολογικές καταστάσεις. Παράλληλα, η δημοσίευση εργασιών που αμφισβητούν ανοικτά την επαγωγή της κατάστασης αυτής μετά από έντονη άσκηση καθιστά αναγκαία την ενδελεχή μελέτη της απόκρισης του οργανισμού σε οξειδωτικά ερεθίσματα, μεταξύ άλλων και της άσκησης. Στην παρούσα εργασία επιχειρήθηκε η εξέταση ενός νέου συστήματος (Luoxis RedoxSYS) που επιτρέπει τον άμεσο προσδιορισμό της οξειδοαναγωγικής κατάστασης σε πλάσμα ανθρώπου σε μόλις 4 και χρησιμοποιώντας μόλις 20μl δείγματος. Η μελέτη απέβλεπε στην ταυτοποίηση της εγκυρότητας των αποτελεσμάτων που παρέχονται από το συγκεκριμένο διαγνωστικό σύστημα τόσο σε φυσιολογικές όσο και σε παθοφυσιολογικές συνθήκες. Τα αποτελέσματα κρίθηκαν ιδιαιτέρως ικανοποιητικά καθώς τόσο σε υγιείς όσο και ασθενείς ανθρώπους με Σήψη, Παχυσαρκία, Μεταβολικό Σύνδρομο και Σακχαρώδη Διαβήτη Τύπου 2, υπήρχε σημαντική συσχέτιση των δεδομένων που παρέχονται από το διαγνωστικό σύστημα με τα αντίστοιχα από φωτομετρικούς βιοδείκτες που χρησιμοποιούνται ευρέως και αξιολογούν αξιόπιστα τόσο τα επίπεδα αντιοξειδωτικής άμυνας ενός οργανισμού, όσο και τα επίπεδα οξειδωτικών βλαβών σε βιομόρια. Ταυτόχρονα, σημαντικό συμπερασμα της παρούσας διατριβής είναι η έλειψη ομοιογένειας στην οξειδοαναγωγική κατάσταση εθελοντών μετά την πραγματοποίηση έντονης άσκησης. Το ενδιαφέρον στοιχείο που προέκυψε αφορά την ύπαρξη βελτιωμένης οξειδοαναγωγικής κατάστασης σε άτομα μετά την πραγματοποίηση άσκησης, μια κατάσταση που στην βιβλιογραφία αναφέρεται ως ‘’Αναγωγικό Στρες’’. Υποθέτοντας ότι το αθλητικό ιστορικό των ατόμων μπορεί να επηρεάσει την απόκριση του οργανισμού στην φλεγμονώδη απόκριση λόγω μυικής καταστροφής μετά από έντονη άσκηση, και κατά συνέπεια την οξειδοαναγωγική τους κατάσταση, πραγματοποιήθηκε μεγάλης έκτασης πείραμα όπου τα αποτελέσματα επιβεβαίωσαν τον άνωθεν ισχυρισμό. Τέλος, έγινε προσπάθεια εξέτασης των συνεπειών που μπορεί να έχει το ,αμφιλεγόμενο με βάση τη βιβλιογραφία, φαινόμενο του αναγωγικού στρες μετά από άσκηση εστιάζοντας την απόκριση των Ανθρωπίνων Μονοπύρηνων Κυττάρων Περιφερικού Αίματος (PBMCs) σε έναν οξειδωτικό παράγοντα. Τα ληφθέντα δεδομένα κατέδειξαν πως η ύπαρξη αναγωγικού στρες είναι ένας καθοριστικός μηχανισμός στην αντιμετώπιση των οξειδωτικών μεταβολών που προκαλείται από έναν εξωτερικό παράγοντα, αποτελώντας την πρώτη εργασία που τονίζει ξεκάθαρα τις ευεργετικές επιδράσεις της κατάστασης αυτής για τον οργανισμό

The postoperative redox status of patients with diabetes mellitus: a mini review

The human organism is exposed to variable endogenous and exogenous factors that result in the induction of free radicals. Surgeries are associated with increased inflammation and production of free radicals through various mechanisms, including ischemia, hemolysis, or endogenous antioxidant depletion. Importantly, a more oxidized redox status could lead to the condition known as “oxidative stress,” which is related to alterations in insulin signaling and may lead to insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus. Therefore, patients with diabetes who undergo surgery could be more vulnerable compared with healthy individuals. Thus, this review focuses on the currently available literature regarding the link between the redox status and diabetes complications after surgery and the methods used to assess the redox status of patients, which is the first step to designing an appropriate treatment strategy. To this end, we queried PubMed for novel works published up to May 2020

Erectile Dysfunction Treatment Using Stem Cells: A Review

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a disorder that affects the quality of life and the sexual relations of more than half of the male population aged over 40 years. The prediction regarding the incidence of ED is devastating as it is expected that this disorder will affect more than 300 million men in the next five years. Several studies have suggested the use of stem cells for the treatment of ED and showed that this type of treatment is promising in terms of damaged tissue repair as well as of clinical efficacy; however, there are several gaps in the knowledge and evidence is lacking. In order to highlight a few of them in this review, we performed a research of the literature focusing on currently available clinical studies regarding the clinical efficacy of stem cell administration for the treatment of ED. We reviewed the methods of administration, the cell types used in the performed clinical trials and the safety and efficiency of such procedures. We conclude that there are rapidly expanding and promising results from the reported clinical studies indicating that stem cells could indeed be a potential treatment for patients with ED although more studies are necessary

Erectile Dysfunction Treatment Using Stem Cells: A Review.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a disorder that affects the quality of life and the sexual relations of more than half of the male population aged over 40 years. The prediction regarding the incidence of ED is devastating as it is expected that this disorder will affect more than 300 million men in the next five years. Several studies have suggested the use of stem cells for the treatment of ED and showed that this type of treatment is promising in terms of damaged tissue repair as well as of clinical efficacy; however, there are several gaps in the knowledge and evidence is lacking. In order to highlight a few of them in this review, we performed a research of the literature focusing on currently available clinical studies regarding the clinical efficacy of stem cell administration for the treatment of ED. We reviewed the methods of administration, the cell types used in the performed clinical trials and the safety and efficiency of such procedures. We conclude that there are rapidly expanding and promising results from the reported clinical studies indicating that stem cells could indeed be a potential treatment for patients with ED although more studies are necessary

Exercise-Induced Reductive Stress Is a Protective Mechanism against Oxidative Stress in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

Eccentric exercise is a well-studied modality that induces oxidative stress and muscle damage. Furthermore, it promotes inflammatory response in which peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are the major mediators. Although free radicals are necessary in a specific range of concentrations, yet unknown, it remains unclear whether reductive redox status (i.e., increased antioxidant defenses and impaired free radical generation) is beneficial or not. Thus, the aim of the present investigation was to examine the effects of reductive stress and the impact of reduced glutathione (GSH) baseline values on the ability of PBMCs to counteract oxidative stress induced by a potent oxidative agent. PBMCs were isolated from the blood of subjects who performed eccentric exercise and treated with t-BOOH for 24 h. The subjects were clustered in the reductive and the oxidative group on the basis of increased or decreased GSH concentration postexercise compared to preexercise values, respectively. According to our results in PBMCs, lipid peroxidation levels as depicted by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) remained unchanged in the reductive group contrary to the observed enhancement in the oxidative group. In addition, GSH concentration and catalase activity increased in the reductive group, whereas they were not affected in the oxidative group. In conclusion, the effects of an oxidizing agent on the redox status of PBMCs isolated from the blood of athletes after acute eccentric exercise are dependent on the baseline values of GSH in erythrocytes. Otherwise, reductive stress defined by increased GSH levels is a protective mechanism, at least when followed by an oxidative stimulus

Buprenorphine and Methadone as Opioid Maintenance Treatments for Heroin-Addicted Patients Induce Oxidative Stress in Blood

Buprenorphine and methadone are two substances widely used in the substitution treatment of patients who are addicted to opioids. Although it is known that they partly act efficiently towards this direction, there is no evidence regarding their effects on the redox status of patients, a mechanism that could potentially improve their action. Therefore, the aim of the present investigation was to examine the impact of buprenorphine and methadone, which are administered as substitutes to heroin-dependent patients on specific redox biomarkers in the blood. From the results obtained, both the buprenorphine (n=21) and the methadone (n=21) groups exhibited oxidative stress and compromised antioxidant defence. This was evident by the decreased glutathione (GSH) concentration and catalase activity in erythrocytes and the increased concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and protein carbonyls in the plasma, while there was no significant alteration of plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) compared to the healthy individuals (n=29). Furthermore, methadone revealed more severe oxidant action compared to buprenorphine. Based on relevant studies, the tested substitutes mitigate the detrimental effects of heroin on patient redox status; still it appears that they need to be boosted. Therefore, concomitant antioxidant administration could potentially enhance their beneficial action, and most probably, buprenorphine that did not induce oxidative stress in such a severe mode as methadone, on the regulation of blood redox status

Resistance-Trained Individuals Are Less Susceptible to Oxidative Damage after Eccentric Exercise

It has been proposed that exercise-induced oxidative stress and adaptations are dependent on training status. In this study, we examined the effects of training background on free radical generation and adaptations after eccentric exercise. Forty volunteers were divided into two groups (trained and untrained) and were asked to perform eccentric exercise. Then, their blood samples were collected pre, 24, 48, and 72 hours postexercise. Biomarkers indicating oxidative damage and the antioxidant profiles of the participants were measured in plasma and erythrocyte lysate both spectrophotometrically and chromatographically. The results revealed that the untrained group depicted more severe oxidative damage (protein carbonyls, malondialdehyde), weaker antioxidant status (reduced glutathione, static and capacity oxidation-reduction potential), and weaker radical-scavenging activity (superoxide radical scavenging and reducing power) compared to the trained participants. Our findings show that trained individuals are less susceptible to oxidative damage and suggest that generalized nutritional recommendations regarding recovery after exercise should be avoided