Somatic symptom disorder and oxidative stress

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the oxidative stress parameters that are total oxidant (TOS), total antioxidant (TAS), paraoxonase (PON), arylesterase (ARE) and thiol / disulfide homeostasis in patients diagnosed with somatic symptom disorder according to DSM-5. It is aimed to understand the relationship between oxidative stress and somatic symptom disorder and to contribute new hypotheses about its etiology and new approaches to its treatment. METHODS: The study included 41 patients with somatic symptom disorders and age, sex and sociodemographically matched 47 healthy controls. The sociodemographic data of the participants was recorded in a form. Patients were administered Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15), Somatic Symptom Amplification Scale (SSAS), Beck Depression Scale (Beck-D) and Beck Anxiety Scale (Beck-A). Participants included in the control group were tested for Symptom Check List (SCL-90R). Routine biochemical parameters, TOS, TAS, OSI, PON, ARE and thiol, disulphide levels were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: TOS, OSI, disulfide, disulphide/native thiol and disulphide/total thiol ratio which showed an increase oxidation parameters were found significantly higher in patient group compared to controls (p<0.001). There is no significant difference in PON, ARE and TAS parameters between patient group and controls (p>0.05). There was not found any significant correlation between oxidative stress parameters and the duration of the disease or the severity of the symptoms. CONCLUSION: It has been shown that oxidative balance is impaired due to the increase of oxidants in somatic symptom disorder. Oxidative stress may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of this disorder. Approaches to reduce oxidative stress may be an alternative option for its prevention and treatment. Keywords: Oxidative stress, somatic symptom disorder