Lipid peroxidation in leukaemia.

OBJECTIVE: Free radicals have been implicated in the pathogenesis of leukaemias, so the degree of lipid peroxidation was studied as a marker of disease activity in patients of leukaemia. METHODS: Lipid peroxidation product malonyldialdehyde (MDA) was estimated in serum from 30 patients of leukaemia by thio-barbituric acid reaction before and after chemotherapy. There were 10 patients of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), 5 with acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL), 15 with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) of which 10 were in chronic stable phase and 5 in blast crisis. Twenty healthy age and sex matched individuals served as control. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in MDA levels in AML and ALL patients and serum MDA levels were higher in the active phase of disease than in remission. We observed a direct correlation between peripheral leucocyte counts and MDA levels. In CML, MDA levels were higher, more so in the patients who were in blast crisis. Patients of CML blast crisis who achieved remission showed a significant decrease in MDA levels as compared to those without remission. CONCLUSION: We observed a significant increase in MDA levels in active phase of acute as well as chronic leukaemia than those in remission. The proposed mechanism for high MDA is that myeloid cells are a major source of superoxide and other oxygen metabolites which lead to lipid peroxidation. MDA estimation in leukaemia can be of help in detecting type of leukaemia, response of therapy, and to predict the chances of relapse.