A Comparative Study of Oxidative Stress Biomarker Levels in Asthmatic and Non-Asthmatic Children

Asthma is the most common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. The interplay between internal genetic and external environmental factors is of key importance in the pathogenesis of this disease. Many studies have provided evidence that oxidative stress is also involved in this disease's progress. Our objective was to evaluate levels of selected oxidative stress biomarkers in children with controlled asthma compared to healthy subjects. Additionally, we attempted to uncover correlations between the selected biomarkers and the clinical parameters of the patients. To accomplish our objective, we evaluated biomarkers for oxidative damage to proteins and lipids in the serum of 30 children aged 10-17 years who have had the disease for 2 to 4 years. We measured a reduced concentration of thiol groups (p<0.05), tryptophan content (p<0.01), and total antioxidant capacity (p<0.001) in the serum of asthmatics. None of the other biomarkers for oxidative stress measured in this study were significantly different compared to the control group. We found a significant positive correlation between the content of N'-formylokynurenine and BMI z-score and a negative correlation between tryptophan content with patient age and total IgE. In conclusion, biomarkers of oxidative stress in asthmatic patients were detected, even in children with well-controlled asthma.