Antioxidant Levels of Acute Leukaemia Patients in Nigeria

The incorporation of nutritional screening and comprehensive assessments of oxidative stress is increasingly recognised as imperative in the development of standards for quality care in oncology. This study evaluated the levels of nitric oxide (NO), some essential trace metals (Zn, Cu, Fe, and Se), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) in twenty five (25) patients with acute leukaemia and 25 apparently healthy controls. The mean levels of plasma Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe) and Selenium (Se) were not significantly elevated (p > 0.05) in leukaemia patients compared with controls. Also, slightly lower level of plasma Cu was observed in leukaemia patients compared with the controls. However, nitric oxide was significantly increased (p < 0.05) in leukaemia patients compared with controls. The implication of the present finding is that intervention to increase antioxidant status in patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) should be considered.