Oxidative stres and erytrocyte deformability in patients with active and inactive inflammatory bowel disease

Aim: In our study we investigated the effect of oxidative stress and erythrocyte deformability in IBD. The data as a result of our study will give us new information about the etiopathogenesis and as these data about IBD increases they will set light to new treatment choices for the reason.Introduction: In recent years, lots of study are done to light up the etiopathogenesis. There are many factors playing role in the etiopathogenesis. Environmental risk factors, increased mucosal permeability and microorganisms are the major etiopathogenetic factors. Oxidative stress and reduced microvascular flow are important factors in the pathogenesis. The increased oxidative stress reduces the eriytrocyte deformability. But in IBD, there are no studies which evaluate erythrocyte deformability in the literature. The relationship between erythrocyte deformability and reduced-microvascular flow is not clarified exactly.Methods: Our study was performed in Gastroenterology Division of the University of Dokuz Eylül. We divided patients into three subgroups; 43 patients with active IBD, 48 patients with inactive IBD and 45 healthy controls. Peripheral venous bloods were taken from each patient. The erytrocyte deformability was measured in two hours. The erythrocyte packages and plasma were separated in the remaining blood and kept in deep freeze. Malonyldialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured in erythrocyte packages. Glutation peroxidase (GPO) and sulfhydryl levels were measured in plasma specimens.Results: Totally 136 people were investigated in three subgroups. Erytrocyte MDA levels in both active and inactive IBD were increased significantly (P=0.005) compared with control groups. Plasma GPO levels did not show statistically significant difference between all groups. While the lowest plasma total sulfhydryl (TSH) levels were found in active group, the highest plasma TSH levels were found in the control group. The decreased plasma TSH levels in active IBD were statistically significant compared with both the inactive IBD (p=0.003) and the control group (p=0.001). But plasma TSH levels in inactive IBD group did not show statistically significant difference when compared with the control group. Elongation index (EI) which shows erytrocyte deformability value in both active (p<0.05) and inactive IBD (p<0.05) increased significantly compared with control group. The correlations were not found statistically significant between the EI and GPO, MDA, TSH levels in all groups.As a result our study is the first study that evaluates the erythrocyte deformability in IBD. In our study increased erytrocyte MDA levels and decreased plasma TSH levels manifested the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of the disease. It is thought that the increased erythrocyte MDA values cause the reduction in erythrocyte deformability. The reduction of erythrocyte deformability may play a role in triggering the microvascular ischemia.