Evaluation of glutathione peroxidase in the blood and tumor tissue of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Aims and Objectives: The lowered antioxidant capacity and the oxidant-antioxidant imbalance have been considered to play a role in multistage carcinogenesis. The deleterious effects produced by reactive oxygen species depend on the imbalance between oxidant and antioxidant status in the body, so this study is aimed to evaluate the levels of antioxidant enzyme, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), in the blood and tumor tissues of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients in comparison with healthy controls.

Materials and Methods: The study comprised of 38 participants divided into two groups. Group 1 comprised of 20 patients with OSCC and Group 2 comprised of age- and sex-matched 18 healthy individuals free of any habits and systemic illness. The levels of GPx were estimated in the blood and tissue samples in both groups by Paglia and Valentine method using a Commercial Biochemical assay kit (RANDOX), by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer.

Results: The GPx levels were elevated in the whole blood and the tissue samples of OSCC cases as compared to the control group. It was also found that the GPx levels were increased in the tumor tissue with respect to the histopathological grading of the OSCC cases.

Conclusion: Detection of antioxidant status may be useful to choose correct radiotherapy or chemotherapy, to monitor the effectiveness of the therapeutic strategy and to determine tumor resistance to therapy. Hence, the evaluation of GPx enzyme level can be used as a prognostic marker in patients with OSCC.