Abstract
Oxidative damage to DNA in human tissues can be determined by measuring multiple products of oxidative damage to the purine and pyrimidine bases using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Oxidative damage to lipids (lipid peroxidation) can be quantitated by the mass spectrometry-based determination of F2-isoprostanes, specific end-products of the peroxidation of arachidonic acid residues in lipids. For both DNA base damage products and 8-epi prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), there is a wide variation in levels between different healthy human subjects. We measured multiple products of oxidative damage to DNA bases in white cells, and 8-epi PGF2α in plasma, from blood samples obtained from healthy human subjects in the UK and in Portugal. No correlation of 8-epi PGF2α levels with levels of any modified DNA base (including 8-hydroxyguanine) was observed. We conclude that no single parameter can be measured as an index of “oxidative stress” or “oxidative damage” in vivo.