Investigation of the clinical prognostic significance of intracellular oxidative glutathione and extracellular thiol-disulfide in patients with bladder tumor

Objective: It is known that the imbalance between antioxidant and oxidant parameters plays a role in the pathogenesis of cancer. It was thought that the imbalance of this balance may also play a role in patients with bladder tumors. For this reason, it was aimed to investigate the relationship between intracellular glutathione and extracellular thiol-disulfide parameters in bladder cancer patients. Materials and Methods: This study was managed as a prospective study. As a result of the examinations performed on the individuals who applied to the Urology Polyclinic of BAIBU Education and Research Hospital, 63 patients were diagnosed with bladder urothelial carcinoma. When patients who didn't meet the study criteria were excluded,a total of 54 patients left. Also 54 health volunteers were included in the study. Intracellular oxidative glutathione and extracellular thiol-disulfide parameters were studied on these patients and the results were compared between the groups. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in age and gender between the patient and control groups (p>0.05). Total thiol, native thiol, reduced glutathione levels were found to be statistically significantly lower in the patient group compared to the control group (p<0.05). Disulfide, oxidized glutathione, SS/SH percentage ratio and GSSG/GSH ratio were found to be statistically significantly higher in the patient group compared to the control group (p<0.05). In our subgroup analysis, when we compared the low grade and high grade groups in the pathological evaluation of bladder cancer patients, total thiol and native thiol were found to be higher in the low grade group compared to the high grade group. The results were statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: When we look at the parameters we studied in bladder cancer patients, it was shown that the shift towards disulfide, which is an oxidant parameter, and the decrease in thiol levels, as well as the increase in oxidized glutathione and the decrease in reduced glutathione, could be significant for the presence of tumor. When we look at the bladder tumor grade, it was shown that total thiol and native thiol levels decrease as the grade increases, which could be a guide for the course of the disease. However, more and comprehensive studies are needed to obtain clearer results. Keywords: Bladder tumor, oxidative stress, thiol, disulfide, glutathione