POLSKIE฀ARCHIWUM฀MEDYCYNY฀WEWNĘTRZNEJ฀ 2009;฀119฀(9) 526 IntroductIon Cancer is a major cause of mor- tality worldwide, and in the United States, it is second only to heart disease. 1 Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common type of cancer among men, with an incidence rate of one in six men. 2 Furthermore, because androgens may play a role in smooth muscle proliferation associated with the development of PCa, men at an increased risk of PCa may also display heightened risk of car- diac disease. 3 As many as one in four men >60 years old have symptoms of benign prostate enlargement, and therefore have an increased risk of PCa. 3,4 Moreover, although prostate specifc-antigen (PSA) concentration of ≥4.0 ng/ ml (4.0 μg/l) is often used in screening for PCa, more than 20% of men diagnosed as having PCa have PSA levels below this cut-of value. 5 Tus, recent work has focused on using free PSA ex- pressed as a percentage in combination with to- tal PSA to improve the specifcity of diagnosis and decrease false-positives. 5 Since PCa afects many men, there is a need for afordable and prac- tical preventive options that target this disease. Te exact cause of PCa is largely unknown. 6 How- ever, several risk factors that increase the risk of developing this disease have been identifed. orIGInAL฀ArtIcLE Changes in antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation in Nigerian patients with prostate carcinoma Oluyemi Akinloye 1 , Oluwatosin Adaramoye 2 , Olatunji Kareem 3 1฀ Department฀of฀Chemical฀Pathology,฀Ladoke฀Akintola฀University,฀Osogbo,฀Nigeria 2฀ Department฀of฀Biochemistry,฀University฀of฀Ibadan,฀Ibadan,฀Nigeria 3฀ Cancer฀Screening฀Unit,฀University฀College฀Hospital,฀Ibadan,฀Nigeria Correspondence฀to: Oluwatosin฀Adaramoye,฀MSc,฀PhD, Department฀of฀Biochemistry, University฀of฀Ibadan,฀Ibadan,฀Nigeria, phone:฀+234‑808‑8382‑846, fax:฀+234‑2‑8103‑043,฀ e‑mail:฀aoadaramoye@yahoo.com Received:฀June฀4,฀2009. Revision฀accepted:฀July฀5,฀2009. Conflict฀of฀inter฀est:฀none฀declared. Pol฀Arch฀Med฀Wewn.฀2009;฀ 119฀(9):฀526‑532 Copyright฀by฀Medycyna฀Praktyczna,฀ Kraków฀2009 AbstrAct IntroductIon฀ Oxidative฀stress฀has฀been฀implicated฀in฀the฀etiology฀of฀several฀patho฀ logies. objEctIvEs฀ The฀study฀was฀designed฀to฀investigate฀the฀levels฀of฀antioxidants฀and฀lipid฀peroxidation฀ (LPO)฀in฀relation฀to฀prostate‑specific฀antigen฀(PSA)฀levels฀in฀blood฀of฀Nigerian฀prostate฀cancer฀(PCa)฀ patients. PAtIEnts฀And฀mEthods฀ One฀hundred฀twenty฀PCa฀patients฀were฀assigned฀to฀3฀groups;฀group฀1฀(low฀ grade)฀with฀a฀PSA฀level฀of฀5–10฀ng/ml฀(n฀=฀33),฀group฀2฀(medium฀grade)฀with฀PSA฀of฀11–20฀ng/ml฀ (n฀=฀45)฀and฀group฀3฀(high฀grade)฀with฀PSA฀>20฀ng/ml฀(n฀=฀42).฀The฀co+ntrol฀group฀comprised฀50฀ healthy฀subjects฀with฀PSA฀<3.0฀ng/ml. rEsuLts฀ Subjects฀with฀a฀PSA฀level฀of฀11–20฀ng/ml฀and฀PSA฀>20฀ng/ml฀had฀significantly฀lower฀ uric฀acid฀and฀reduced฀glutathione฀levels฀(p฀<0.05).฀A฀significant฀reduction฀(p฀<0.05)฀in฀plasma฀ vitamin฀C฀and฀E฀levels฀was฀observed฀in฀these฀patients.฀The฀levels฀of฀vitamins฀C฀and฀E฀decreased฀by฀ 27%฀and฀77%฀in฀subjects฀with฀PSA฀>20฀ng/ml,฀and฀by฀25%฀and฀47%฀in฀subjects฀with฀a฀PSA฀level฀ of฀11–20฀ng/ml,฀respectively.฀Serum฀total฀bilirubin,฀alkaline฀phosphatase฀(ALP)฀and฀LPO฀were฀significantly฀ (p฀<0.05)฀elevated฀in฀subjects฀with฀PSA฀>11฀ng/ml.฀More฀specifically,฀total฀bilirubin,฀ALP฀and฀LPO฀ levels฀ were฀elevated฀by฀75%,฀66%฀and฀107%฀in฀subjects฀with฀PSA฀at฀11–20฀ng/ml,฀and฀by฀167%,฀105%,฀ 98%฀in฀subjects฀with฀PSA฀ ≥20฀ng/ml,฀respectively.฀Moreover,฀superoxide฀dismutase฀and฀catalase฀ activities฀were฀lower฀(p฀<0.05)฀in฀all฀cancer฀patients. concLusIons฀ The฀results฀confirmed฀the฀depletion฀of฀antioxidants฀in฀PCa฀patients,฀and฀an฀inverse฀ relationship฀between฀antioxidants฀and฀PSA฀values฀in฀this฀group. KEy฀words antioxidant,฀lipid฀ peroxidation,฀ Nigerian,฀prostate฀ cancer,฀ prostate‑specific฀ antigen