Abstract We investigated serum and aqueous humor thiol/disulfide (T-D) homeostasis in patients with cataracts versus healthy controls. In total, 56 patients with cataracts and 49 healthy controls were enrolled in… Click to show full abstract
Abstract We investigated serum and aqueous humor thiol/disulfide (T-D) homeostasis in patients with cataracts versus healthy controls. In total, 56 patients with cataracts and 49 healthy controls were enrolled in this case-control study. Serum total thiol (TT), native thiol (NT), and disulfide (DS) concentrations were determined using a novel automated measurement method. Additionally, DS/TT, DS/NT and NT/TT percentage ratios were compared between the groups. In comparison with the control group, serum NT levels and aqueous humor TT and NT levels were significantly lower (p < .05, p < .05 and p < .001, respectively), whereas serum and aqueous humor DS levels were significantly higher in cataract patients (p < .01 and p < .001). DS/TT and DS/NT ratios were significantly higher and the NT/TT ratio was lower in cataract patients in serum (p < .005) and aqueous humor samples (p < .001). In conclusion, serum T-D homeostasis may be useful as biochemical markers, indicating the role of oxidative stress in the development of cataracts. Further studies are needed to confirm the pathophysiological role of T-D homeostasis in cataractogenesis.
               
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