Applied Chemical Engineering

Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants in Women with Cervical Cancer patients

Kawakeb N. A. Abdulla

Iraqi National Cancer Research Centre, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq

Rasha Hamza Mnehil

College of Medicine, University of Karbala, Karbala, Iraq

Saba Jesem Alheshemi

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Medical College of Misan University, Misan, Iraq

Montadher Ali Mahdi

Iraqi National Cancer Research Centre, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq

Kareem Salim Abod

Al-Nukhba University College, Baghdad, Iraq, for academic evaluation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/ace.v9i2.5948

Keywords: cervical cancer (CaCx); Oxidative stress; vitamin C; Nitric Oxide; Zinc

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Abstract

Cervical cancer remains a major health concern among women worldwide and is associated with multiple biochemical and molecular alterations, including oxidative stress.

This work aimed to evaluate the connection between oxidative stress and antioxidant status in women with cervical cancer by measuring serum nitric oxide (NO), plasma vitamin C (VC), and serum zinc (Zn) levels. A total of 120 women were implicated in this case–control study, comprising 60 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer and 60 healthy age-matched controls. Blood samples were gathered and analyzed to evaluate the concentrations of NO, VC, and Zn using ELISA and colorimetric methods. Statistical analysis was done utilizing SPSS software.

The results showed significantly higher levels of serum nitric oxide in cervical cancer participants matched with the controls group (p < 0.001). In contrast, plasma vitamin C and serum zinc concentrations were significantly reduced in participants with cervical cancer (p < 0.001). Pearson correlation analysis shows a efficient negative correlation between nitric oxide and both vitamin C and zinc concentratinos, while a positive correlation was seen between vitamin C and zinc. (ROC) curve analysis explained that these biomarkers possess diagnostic potential, with nitric oxide showing the highest diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.88), followed by vitamin C (AUC = 0.84) and zinc (AUC = 0.81).

These findings suggest that cervical cancer is associated with increased oxidative stress and reduced antioxidant defense, highlighting the potential turn of oxidative stress biomarkers in understanding the biochemical alterations related to cervical cancer.

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