Determination of Ceruloplasmin Ferroxidase Activity, Iron & Transferrin in Patients with Brain Tumor

Abstract

Serum from healthy volunteers (n=30) was found to contain little ceruloplasmin (Cp) ferroxidase activity. Higher level of activity was found in the sera that obtained from patients (n=64) with benign and malignant brain tumors. The highest activity was measured in sera of malignant tumors patients. The differences were significant between Cp activity in sera of both type of patients in comparison to that of the control healthy group (p<0.05), and between benign patients with that with malignant brain tumors (p<0.01). Also the results of the current work illustrated the presence of a significant increase in [iron] (p<0.01), as well as total iron binding capacity, in sera of the patients groups in comparison to that of healthy group. The increase in iron concentration was found to be accompanied with a significant decrease in transferrin concentration. This lead to an increase in the concentration of free iron, which is one of the pro oxidants that cause production of more free radicals.