Impaired thiol/disulphide homoeostasis in children with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome

Changes in Serum Thiol-Disulphide Homeostasis in Sheep with Gastrointestinal Nematodes

Simple Summary

Parasitism with gastrointestinal nematodes represents a significant risk to the health of livestock populations. Besides the local oxidative damage caused by the parasite, the host reacts by increasing the production of oxidants. The study of thiol-disulphide homeostasis can be of help in the evaluation of the oxidative status of sheep during this type of parasitism. In this study, the thiol-disulphide homeostasis, together with other biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation, were assessed in the serum of lambs infected with gastrointestinal nematodes and were evaluated after 70 days of integrated crop-livestock system and anthelmintic treatment. This study showed that the thiol-disulphide balance was impaired in the infected lambs and the changes were correlated with the parasite load, which therefore could indicate their potential use as a tool to evaluate and monitor the disease in sheep.

Abstract

This work aimed to evaluate the thiol-disulphide homeostasis in serum of lambs naturally infected by gastrointestinal nematodes presenting different levels of parasite load indirectly indicated by faecal worm egg counts (EPG). Furthermore, the possible changes in the thiol-disulphide dynamic after different procedures to reduce the parasitic charge, such as the integrated crop-livestock system or anthelmintic treatment, were assessed. The results were compared with a panel of various oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers. The lambs were divided into three groups: animals highly infected (EPG higher than 5000) and packed cell volume (PCV) lower than 24% (G1); animals highly infected (EPG higher than 5000) and normal PCV (>24%) (G2); and animals presenting EPG lower than 5000 and normal PCV (>24%) (G3). The highly infected lambs (G1 and G2) showed lower total thiol (TT) and native thiol (SH) (p ≤ 0.01) than those from G3. After treatment, TT and SH increased significantly in all groups (p ≤ 0.01), and the disulphide (SS)/TT and SS/SH ratios decreased significantly (p < 0.01) in G1 and G2. These results show that the thiol-disulphide balance was impaired in lambs infected by gastrointestinal nematodes and that it could be potentially used as a biomarker to monitor this disease.

Thiol level and total oxidant/antioxidant status in patients with COVID-19 infection

Background

Accumulating evidence suggests that oxidative stress is closely related to the pathogenesis and severity of COVID-19 infection. Here, we attempted to compare thiol, total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), and oxidative stress index (OSI) levels between COVID-19 patients who need and do not need intensive care unit (ICU) support, and determine whether these markers could be used as predictors of ICU admission.

Methods

We recruited 86 patients with COVID-19 infection and classified them into two groups according to the level of care: ICU group (n = 40) and non-ICU group (n = 46). Thiol, TAS, TOS, and OSI levels were determined and compared between the two groups.

Results

The levels of thiol and TAS in serum were markedly lower in ICU patients than in the non-ICU patients. On the contrary, TOS and OSI levels were markedly higher. Inflammatory markers, including white blood cell, neutrophil, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, and ferritin, were negatively correlated with the thiol and TAS, and positively correlated with the TOS and OSI. We determined that areas under the ROC curve for thiol, TAS, TOS, and OSI were 0.799, 0.778, 0.713, and 0.780, respectively.

Conclusions

Our results revealed that the increase in oxidative stress and decrease in antioxidant levels in COVID-19-infected patients were associated with worsening of disease. Thiol, TAS, TOS, and OSI parameters can be used to distinguish between ICU patients and those who do not, among which thiol was the best predictor of ICU requirement.