Serum paraoxonase activities, nitric oxide, and malondialdehyde levels are altered in patients with primary fibromyalgia syndrome 2023 Atamer et al

Abstract

Background
Fibromyalgia patients who are exposed to extreme oxidative stress may face more severe clinical features or oxidative stress may be increased by the severity of the disease.

Aim
The purpose of these investigation were to determine serum paraoxonase activities (PON-1) and nitric oxide (NO) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) level in fibromyalgia and whether there were any associations between these enzymes activities, MDA level, and clinical parameters.

Methods
The study groups were consisted of 30 primer fibromyalgia patients and 30 healthy subjects. Clinical findings, pain severity, functional disability, general health status, anxiety, and depression assessed, and serum PON-1 activity, MDA, and NO levels were measured.

Results
The primer fibromyalgia group had significantly higher MDA, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), and decreased PON-1 activity, NO, and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) with respect to controls. The paraoxonase activity was negatively correlated with MDA, LDL-C, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire score (FIQ score), tender point score, age, and BDI score, while positively correlated with NO and HDL-C. MDA level was positively correlated with VAS, FIQ score, tender point score, age, and negatively correlated with NO level.

Conclusion
These results suggest that FMS patients have an alteration in levels of MDA, NO, and PON-1 activities. We think that impaired oxidant/antioxidant status may affect the symptoms of the disease. Also, they may be of importance in the complex physiopathologic mechanism behind the development of FMS.

Paywall, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11845-023-03280-2

 

I have no idea what these Turkish researchers mean in this paper published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science by "30 primer fibromyalgia patients." (Bolding is mine.) DNA/RNA primers? Or primary FM patients? Copyediting, people....please!

PON-1 is referred to in Science Direct: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/pon1

MDA is a marker for oxidative stress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malondialdehyde

I checked whether the authors of the research had written other papers in the field of FM. Each of the several authors have published only 1 or 2 research articles. Only one author has published an additional FM research paper (low cortisol in FM patients. ho-hum, that has been known for decades).

This could be an important direction in research or it may be irrelevant. I have no expertise in biochem.

Edited to add: I think this is a shot in the void.

 

To add: that the "primer" FM patients had worse lipid measurements, impossible to tell how they and healthy controls were selected. Small subject numbers and could be that the FM patients were eating worse diets (higher in cholerterol) and also were more overweight than healthy controls. Depending on severity level of FM, the FM subjects could be exercising less. Also, with just 30 subjects, odds are favorable for having a couple of FM patients with genes for bad cholesterol and skewing the outcome.

Without the rest of the study, impossible to tell if the researchers controlled for these variables.