Aim: The main goal of the present study was the evaluation of ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and estimation of its connection with vascular complications, glycemic control, hypertension, dyslipidemia and obesity. Methods: In 76 diabetic patients and 25 control subjects, a plasma level of IMA by manually performed, spectrophotometric Co(II)-albumin binding assay was determined. Other parameters such as glucose, fructosamine, HbA1c, total cholesterol and its fractions (HDL, LDL), triglicerydes were estimated by routine methods. Results: Diabetic patients had significantly higher level of IMA in comparison with control subjects. There were not significant differences between groups with various states of vascular complications although the lowest concentration of IMA was observed in patients with microangiopathy. Patients with poor glycemic control had higher IMA level in comparison with these with good glycemic control. Significant correlation was observed between IMA and HbA1c. Among the risk factors, only blood pressure and LDL showed a weak relationship with IMA level. Conclusions: Our results revealed, for the first time, higher level of IMA in diabetic patients which confirms that it may be of non-cardiac origin. We can suggest that the albumin molecule in plasma of diabetic patients is modified in the chronic hypoxia conditions provoked mainly by hyperglycemia and oxidative stress in diabetes.

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The concentration of leukocyte elastase/alpha1-proteinase inhibitor complexes in plasma and polymorphonuclear neutrophil extracts, and plasma trypsin inhibitory capacity were determined in 88 patients with type 2 diabetes and 47 control subjects. Higher values of these variables were found in patients as compared to controls (p < 0.001). The concentration of elastase was higher in obese patients than in lean ones (p < 0.05 for plasma, p < 0.01 for polymorphonuclear leukocytes). Only leukocyte elastase levels were significantly higher in the group with both micro- and macroangiopathy in comparison to the group with microangiopathy (p < 0.01) or macroangiopathy (p < 0.05) alone. Poor short-term glycaemic control was associated with higher elastase concentration in plasma and neutrophils (p < 0.05). The present study demonstrates that measurements of plasma polymorphonuclear neutrophil elastase level can be considered as a marker of development of diabetic angiopathy.

The connection between plasma levels of both glycooxidation protein products-AGE and AOPP with nephropathy severity, measured by the degree of albuminuria, in T2DM patients was observed. We can suggest that the AOPP better reflect the progression of kidney damage than AGE in examined diabetic patients.

Advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) are protein markers of oxidative stress with pro-inflammatory properties that accumulated in liver cirrhosis. In the present study, we investigated the association between chronic inflammatory response triggered by AOPPs and the severity of liver disease as assessed by the Child-Pugh score. Plasma concentrations of AOPPs and inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6 were measured in 41 patients with HCV-related cirrhosis, 43 patients with alcohol-related liver cirrhosis (ALC), and in 30 age and sex matched controls. In comparison with controls, AOPPs were increased in HCV-related compensated (Child-Pugh A) and decompensated (Child-Pugh B-C) cirrhosis and in alcohol-related compensated cirrhosis. AOPPs level positively correlated with Child-Pugh score in alcohol-related cirrhosis but not in HCV-related cirrhosis and the correlation with the indices of chronic inflammation was stronger in ALC. In turn, AOPPs in HCV-related cirrhosis was related to inflammation to a lesser extent, but a significant correlation with antioxidant defense could be noted. In summary, liver cirrhosis was associated with increased formation of AOPPs, which differed between alcohol-related and HCV-related cirrhosis with respect to the relationship between AOPPs and antioxidant defense, stage of liver cirrhosis, and inflammatory response. The significant correlation between AOPPs accumulation and indices of chronic inflammation, more specifically TNF-α, suggests that oxidative stress may be a mediator of chronic inflammatory state in the early stage of alcohol-related cirrhosis.

This study aims to measure selected markers of oxidative protein damage (OPD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in order to estimate their utility as indicators of oxidative stress (OS) and to search for possible associations between them. The concentrations of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) and total sulphydryl (TSH) and reactive carbonyl (RCO) groups are measured in the plasma (P) and urine (U) of 60 patients and 22 controls using spectrophotometric methods. Significantly higher plasma concentrations of AOPP (P < 0.001), RCO groups (P < 0.01) and their P/U indexes (P < 0.001) as well as urinary levels of the RCO and TSH groups (P < 0.001) were observed in the diabetic patients compared with the controls. In contrast, the plasma levels and P/U index of the TSH groups were significantly lower (P < 0.001). A progressive increase in AOPP (plasma, urine and P/U index) in the course of albuminuria was noted, but significant differences among the subgroups of patients (with normoalbuminuria, microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria) were found only in plasma. Plasma levels of all the measured parameters of OPD showed significant changes in T2DM patients compared with the control group. The largest increase was observed for AOPP. As the urinary AOPP concentration was not significantly different to that of the controls, it cannot be recommended as a marker of oxidative stress for monitoring the development of diabetic nephropathy. The P/U indexes did not provide any more information than the plasma concentrations of the studied markers.

Serum concentrations of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) and glycation end products (AGEs) were assessed with respect to functional compromise of liver, as determined by the Child-Pugh and MELD scores. Patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis (Child-Pugh B and C) exhibited significantly higher serum concentrations of AOPPs than both patients with compensated liver cirrhosis (Child-Pugh A) and controls. The levels of plasma AGEs in all liver cirrhotic patients were higher when compared with those with the controls and this difference was statistically significant. Plasma total antioxidant status of the patients was significantly lower than that of controls. Significant positive correlations between AOPPs level and the MELD score and between the oxidative stress index and the MELD score were found in all patients with liver cirrhosis. Altered AOPPs levels in decompensated patients may influence the potency of oxidative stress and the progression of liver disease.

Inflammation and oxidative stress have been reported in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection, but their influence on ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) levels and diabetes prevalence remains unknown. Sixty-three CHC patients, 28 with diabetes, and 40 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Circulating levels of oxidative stress markers [Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine- advanced glycation end products (CML-AGEs) and advanced oxidation protein products-(AOPPs)], pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor α), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were assessed. Compared with the controls, the CHC patients with diabetes showed a significant increase in plasma concentrations of IMA, AOPPs, interleukin-6 and hsCRP (P < 0.05). The values of IMA and hsCRP were more elevated in patients with diabetes than without diabetes (both P < 0.01). The positive relationships were found between hsCRP and presence of diabetes, IMA (both P < 0.01) and AOPP levels (P < 0.05). CML-AGEs did not show any significant correlation with IMA, markers of inflammation and presence of diabetes. In conclusion, we have documented significant elevation in plasma levels of IMA and AOPPs in CHC patients. In addition, circulating IMA was associated with inflammation markers and diabetes prevalence. This observation suggests a relationship between IMA and inflammation in CHC patients with diabetes, which may represent one of the mechanisms involved in the accelerated atherosclerosis in this population.