Characterization of systemic oxidative stress in asthmatic adults compared to healthy controls and its association with the oxidative potential of particulate matter collected using personal samplers

Santibáñez, Miguel; Núñez-Robainas, Adriana; Barreiro Portela, Esther; Expósito, Andrea; Agüero, Juan; García-Rivero, Juan Luis; Abascal, Beatriz; Amado, Carlos Antonio; Ruiz-Cubillán, Juan José; Fernández-Sobaler, Carmen; García-Unzueta, María Teresa; Cifrián, José Manuel; Fernandez-Olmo, Ignacio

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antiox14040385

Characterization of systemic oxidative stress in asthmatic adults compared to healthy controls and its association with the oxidative potential of particulate matter collected using personal samplers

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Santibañez M, Nuñez-Robainas A, Barreiro E, Exposito A, Aguero J, Garcia-Rivero JL, Abascal B, Amado CA, Ruiz-Cubillan JJ, Fernandez-Sobaler C, Garcia-Unzueta MT, Cifrian JM, Fernandez-Olmo I. Characterization of systemic oxidative stress in asthmatic adults compared to healthy controls and its association with the oxidative potential of particulate matter collected using personal samplers. Antioxidants. 2025 Mar 25;14(4):385. DOI: 10.3390/antiox14040385

Abstract

Inflammatory cell activation in asthma may lead to reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction with an imbalance between oxidant levels and antioxidant capacity, called oxidative stress (OS). Since particulate matter (PM) airborne exposure may also contribute to ROS generation, it is unclear whether PM contributes more to OS than inflammatory cell activation. In our ASTHMA-FENOP study, which included 44 asthma patients and 37 matched controls, we aimed to characterize OS using five serum markers: total ROS content, protein carbonyl content, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OxLDL), 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, and glutathione. Volunteers wore personal samplers for 24 h, collecting fine and coarse PM fractions separately, and the oxidative potential (OP) was determined using two methods. We observed differences between asthmatic and non-asthmatic volunteers in some OS markers, such as OxLDL, with an adjusted mean difference of 50,059.8 ng/mL (p < 0.001). However, we did not find an association between higher PM-OP and increased systemic OS. This suggests that at our PM-OP exposure levels, OS generated by the inflammatory cells themselves is more relevant than that generated by airborne PM. This supports the idea that asthma is a heterogeneous disease at the molecular level, mediated by inflammatory cell activation, and that OS may have potential clinical implications.