Investi̇gati̇on of oxi̇dati̇ve status and dna damage in the chi̇ldren wi̇th breath-holdi̇ng spells

Oxidative stress is the imbalance between reactive oxygen species and antioxidant system. These imbalances can cause irreversible damage to the cells. Oxidative stress was demonstrated to be increased in pediatric patients in literature. Depending on the cause of increased oxidative stress can lead to DNA damage, in this study we aimed to investigate serum folic acid, vitamin B12 and iron values with total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS) and DNA damage in pediatric patients with breath-holding spells. We evaluated age and sex matched 40 study and 30 control cases in this study. DNA strand breaks in peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes were assayed by single-cell alkaline gel electrophoresis (comet assay). Plasma TAS, TOS, folic acid, vitamin B12 and iron values were analyzed by colorimetric method using a commercial kit. In study group, the plasma mean TOS, DNA damage and OSI values were increased compared with controls (p <0,05). The plasma TAS values were decreased in control group compared with study patients (p <0,05). There were statistically positive correlations between the plasma TOS and DNA damage values in the study group (r=0,287, p <0,05). There was no statistically significant difference in terms of iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiencies between the study and control group (p >0,05). In conclusion we demonstrated that oxidative stress and DNA damage were increased and antioxidant capacity was decreased in children with breath-holding spells. Future studies are needed to show oxidative stress and DNA damage in children with breath-holding spells.