Study of Oxidative Stress and One Carbon Metabolism in Prostate Neoplasm in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Introduction: Prostate neoplasm is a major health problem globally since last two decades. Among the contributory factors in aetiopathogenesis, oxidative stress and one carbon metabolism are also important. Aim: To compare the serum level of vitamin B12, homocysteine and Malondialdehyde (MDA) between prostate cancer, Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) and control subjects to find out the status of oxidative stress and one carbon metabolism in prostate tumours. Materials and Methods: Forty patients each with BPH and Prostate cancer along with 40 age matched healthy controls were selected in an observational cross-sectional study, attending the outpatient and inpatient Department of Urology, IPGME&R, Kolkata, West Bengal, India, from January 2018 to June 2019. Oxidative stress for these patients was estimated by measuring lipid peroxidation product MDA by Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) assay with spectrophotometer. Vitamin B12 and homocysteine were also analysed as a marker of one carbon metabolism by chemiluminescent method. Biochemical parameters such as fasting and post-prandial blood sugar, urea, creatinine and liver function tests were measured by autoanalyser to rule out diabetes and any underlying hepatic and renal pathology. All the data were then analysed using statistical software SPSS version 24. The groups were compared using student’s unpaired t-test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient was applied to observe the correlation between variables. Results: A statistically significant rise of oxidative stress was found in BPH and prostate cancer cases compared to age matched control. Regarding one carbon metabolism, this study fails to demonstrate any statistically significant difference of Vitamin B12 level between BPH and control as well as between prostate cancer and control group. However, high serum homocysteine is associated with both BPH and prostate cancer compared to the controls. Conclusion: In the present study, statistically significant increase in oxidative stress and serum homocysteine level and no difference of serum vitamin B12 was found in BPH and prostate cancer cases compared to control group. Longitudinal studies are however required to establish any relationship and to investigate the potential role of homocysteine as a novel tumour marker.