Comparative evaluation of the serum and tissue redox homeostasis in stress and cancer, in rat

Abstract

A lot of experiments in human and animals evidenced that the exposure to various stressors, but also tumor development can alter systemic redox homeostasis by stimulation of oxidants production or/and suppression of some antioxidant/reparatory systems. Our study performed on Wistar rats aimed to investigate comparatively the influence of chronic psychoemotional stress and tumor growth on the redox balance in the serum and tissues by determining the content of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and total thiol groups (-SH) and oxidase activity of ceruloplasmin (CP). Comparative evaluation of these redox parameters was based on the final results, respectively at the end of stress procedure and in the late stages of tumor evolution.Our results revealed several similarities, but also differences of the redox parameters between stress and cancer model. The most obvious similarities were noticed in the serum and the adrenals for TBARS and total thiol groups, while the most relevant differences were recorded for CP which showed a more intense activity in the serum and tissues of tumor bearing rats than stressed rats. Moreover, some redox differences were even recorded between the two studied murine tumors probably due to their distinct origin and growth rate