Dynamic thiol and disulphide homoeostasis in fibromyalgia

Abstract

Introduction: Thiol and disulphide levels are biomarkers that provide useful information about oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity, showing a different homoeostasis in inflammatory and proliferative diseases. We aimed to clarify the possible aetiology of this disease by using thiol and disulphide levels in patients with fibromyalgia, the basis of which has not yet been clearly elucidated. Material and methods: A total of 156 individuals: 86 patients with fibromyalgia and 70 age-matched controls were included in this prospective non-randomised case-control study. Demographic characteristics including smoking status, body mass index (BMI), the duration of complaints, and pain levels were carefully recorded. Dynamic thiol-disulphide homoeostasis in blood samples was determined by an automatic-spectrophotometric method. The Mann-Whitney U and Student's t-test were used to determine the differences between the groups. Results: Sex, BMI, and smoking status were similar between the groups (p = 0.62, p = 0.09, and p = 0.64, respectively). While native thiol levels were found to be high in patients with fibromyalgia (p = 0.018), disulphide levels and the rates of disulphide/native thiol and disulphide/total thiol were significantly low (p = 0.049, p = 0.007, and p = 0.007, respectively). Correlation analysis showed no significant relationship between thiol-disulphide levels and duration of complaints or pain level. Conclusions: Thiol-disulphide balance in fibromyalgia was found to be similar to benign proliferative diseases, suggesting that the underlying mechanism is more likely to be of proliferative pattern rather than inflammatory. Additionally, fibromyalgia is not directly associated with increase in oxidative stress. The molecular mechanisms need to be elucidated.

Thiol-Disulfide Balance in Fibromyalgia: A Case-Control Study

“…The median age of the FMS group was 44 (37-51) years, and the median age of the control group was 44 (32-53.25) years (p=0.80). The median number of tender points in patients was 12.5 (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). The median duration of symptoms was 36 (12-72) months.…”

“…This is an easy, inexpensive, practical, fully automated, and optionally manual spectrophotometric process that evaluates SS homeostasis [14]. Research on the thiol-SS balance in fibromyalgia is limited, and conflicting results have been reported [10,[15][16][17].…”

Thiol/disulfide homeostasis impaired in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome

“…Disulphide levels increase in degenerative diseases, such as DM, obesity, pneumonia, and familial Mediterranean fever, and the balance shifts towards thiol in proliferative diseases, such as multiple myeloma, bladder cancer, colon cancer, and kidney cancer (10). A recent study found that native thiol levels were high and disulphide levels were low in patients with fibromyalgia when compared to the healthy controls, and it was reported that in fibromyalgia, the thiol/disulphide balance was similar to that in benign proliferative diseases and that this was due to the proliferative pattern rather than inflammation (19). Our hypothesis is also supported by the results of some studies that include autoim-mune and inflammatory diseases.…”

Skin Bioimpedance Analysis to Determine Cellular Integrity by Phase Angle in Women with Fibromyalgia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…An increase in oxidative stress occurs in patients exhibiting more severe symptomatology [10]. In this regard, Karatas et al [11] also demonstrated lower levels of antioxidants in patients with fibromyalgia compared to healthy subjects, which further exacerbates this imbalance.…”