Association between Oxidative Stress Markers and Hospital Admission due to Asthma

INTRODUCTION: Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease marked by airway constriction, systemic and localized inflammation, and oxidative stress. The pathophysiological mechanism of asthma is influenced by oxidative stress, characterized by imbalance between increased reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defense. The role of oxidative stress in asthma development and control is crucial to the disease’s pathogenesis and treatment. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate oxidative stress biomarkers in asthmatic patients.
METHODS: Cross-sectional study, designed in tertiary care chest disease hospitals’ outpatient clinic. Asthma patients, who applied to the outpatient clinic within in February 2022, were included in the study. Asthma group and control group was compared.
RESULTS: 94 were enrolled in the study, 47 in each group. Mean age was 41±16.28 SD and body mass index (BMI) was 27.3±7.11 kg/m2 in group asthma. Mean age was 40±24.12 SD and BMI of the control group was 28.6±8.2 kg/m2. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of age, gender, weight, smoking status, and comorbidities (p>0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), oxidative stress index (OSI), total thiol (TT), native Tiol (NT), and disulfide (DIS) between the control and asthma patient groups (p=0.001 for all variables). When compared to healthy controls, asthmatics had greater TOS, OSI, and DIS scores. Despite, healthy controls had considerably higher TAS, TT, and NT levels than the asthma group. There was no statistically significant relationship between oxidative stress markers and the comorbidities, hospital admissions in the last year and emergency admissions in the last year. Oxidative stress markers and the pulmonary function test results have no significant association (p>0.05) in the Asthma group.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In the current study, TOS and DIS values of individuals with asthma are extremely high compared to healthy controls. Besides TAS, OSI, TT, and NT values of healthy controls were significantly higher than the asthma group. The oxidant/antioxidant balance was impaired and oxidative stress increased in asthma patients in the present study.