Breath ethane generation during clinical total body irradiation as a marker of oxygen-free-radical-mediated lipid peroxidation: A case study

V. Elayne Arterbery, William A. Pryor, Long Jiang, Shelley S. Sehnert, W. Michael Foster, Ross A. Abrams, Jerry R. Williams, Moody D. Wharam, Terence H. Risby

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

67 Scopus citations

Abstract

Total body irradiation (TBI) is used therapeutically for treatment of leukemias and other malignancies of the hemopoietic system. Ionizing radiation produces oxygen free radicals that contribute to cytotoxicity. Breath collected from one patient undergoing therapeutic TBI showed measurable changes in levels of ethane during treatment. Breath ethane is a marker of lipid peroxidation of n-3 fatty acids. The TBI treatment involved 4 days of irradiation. The largest changes in breath ethane occured on Day 2. The increased levels of breath ethane on Day 2 were correlated to clinical manifestations of toxicity. The correlation of the onset of gastrointestinal side effects with higher levels of breath ethane suggests that breath ethane may be a clinically useful measure of the toxicity of various TBI fractionation treatment protocols currently in use at different medical centers. The levels of breath ehtane on the other days of treatment were lower, suggesting that the oxidative-antioxidative balance of the patient may be important in protection against free radical mediated injury. These results for a single patient suggest that breath ethane may be a promising approach to elucidate the role of antioxidants in clinical TBI and should be extended for verification to a larger volunteer patient population.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)569-576
Number of pages8
JournalFree Radical Biology and Medicine
Volume17
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1994

Keywords

  • Breath
  • Ethane
  • Free radical
  • Lipid peroxidation
  • Oxidative damage
  • Radiation toxicity
  • Total body irradiation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Physiology (medical)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Breath ethane generation during clinical total body irradiation as a marker of oxygen-free-radical-mediated lipid peroxidation: A case study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this