A comparative study of selenium concentration and glutathione peroxidase activity in normal and breast cancer patients.
Parole chiave
Astratto
OBJECTIVE
The present study was undertaken to compare plasma Se values and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity in normal and breast cancer patients.
METHODS
In a case-control study, forty-five breast cancer patients and the same number of healthy women were randomly selected from their population. Se was measured in plasma by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and GPX activity in erythrocytes was measured using a standard spectrophotometric method.
RESULTS
Plasma Se concentration in healthy women and breast cancer patients was in the normal range, with no statistically significant difference observed between the two groups (138.40 (sd 40.36) microg/l v. 132.15 (sd 35.37) microg/l, respectively). Erythrocyte GPX activity was significantly (P<0.01) higher in breast cancer patients (24.81 (sd 11.66) U/g Hb) compared with healthy women (20.29 (sd 4.24) U/g Hb).
CONCLUSIONS
The present study indicated that Se deficiency was not a problem in the participants, and sufficient quantity of this element could increase GPX activity to have a protective effect against oxidative damage.
