Relationships of oxidative stress and systemic inflammation markers depending on the degree and duration of hypertension

Abstract

Arterial hypertension (AH) is a heterogenic and multisystem disease. It has been suggested that oxidative stress (OS) and systemic non-specific inflammation may be involved in pathogenesis of cardiovascular pathology including AH. The aim of our study was to characterize the plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) level as a marker of systemic inflammation in relation to OS development (on the base of 8-isoprostane level assessment), depending on duration and degree of AH. We examined 117 persons, of which 102 patients from 30 to 65 years old (average age – 54.7 years) who had previously not been receiving regular antihypertensive therapy had I–III degrees of essential hypertension and 15 healthy persons (average age – 48.7 years). In 34 patients from this group the degree of OS activity was determined by 8-isoprostane level as the main marker of OS. The control group consisted of 10 healthy persons, by age and gender comparable with the study group. Determination of plasmatic CRP levels and the level of 8-isoprostane in the serum was performed by ELISA. The study established an increase of the plasmatic CRP levels in patients with hypertension, and a statistically significant increase of serum 8-isoprostane content in hypertensive patients compared to the control group. When assessing the relationship of 8-isoprostane and CRP content in patients with different degrees of hypertension we found that the strongest positive relationship between their levels was observed in the case of I degree hypertension. This may indicate the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of hypertension as a damaging mechanism which contributes to the activation of immune mechanisms and further progression of the disease. Increased CRP and 8-isoprostane levels confirm the involvement of autoimmune mechanisms and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of hypertension. The level of C-reactive protein is dependent on the duration of hypertension, while the 8-isoprostane levels – only on degree of hypertension. A raised level of C-reactive protein can be used as an independent marker of systemic inflammation in patients with arterial hypertension.