TITLE:
Oxidative DNA Damage Is Elevated in Renal Patients Undergoing Haemodialysis
AUTHORS:
Twyla Moffitt, Florence Hariton, Megan Devlin, Peter J. Garrett, Mary P. A. Hannon-Fletcher
KEYWORDS:
Haemodialysis, Modified Comet Assay, Oxidative DNA Damage
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Vol.4 No.6,
June
11,
2014
ABSTRACT: Background: End
stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with an increase in oxidative stress,
cardiovascular disease and cancer. The main treatment for ESRD is
haemodialysis (HD), which itself induces repetitive bouts of oxidative stress
through membrane biocompatibility and endotoxin challenge. The resulting higher
levels of reactive oxygen species in turn produce increased levels of oxidative
DNA damage leading to genomic instability which may influence the higher risk
of cancer reported in HD patients. Our aims were to measure levels of oxidative
DNA damage in HD patients and in age and gender matched control volunteers.
Methods: Thirty eight patients receiving HD in the Western Health and Social
Services Trust (WHSCT) and 8 healthy volunteers were recruited. Volunteers gave
informed consent and non-fasting morning blood samples were taken and assessed
for DNA disruption using the comet assay modified to identify oxidative
specific damage. Results: The HD patients had significantly elevated levels
of alkaline DNA damage (19.46% ± 1.37% vs 3.86% ± 1.36% tail DNA, p