Study of the diagnostic utility of paraoxonase enzyme in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage in patients with lung cancer

Backgrounds
PON1 plays a main role in preventing oxidative stress, and also it is important in removal of carcinogenic lipid-soluble radicals caused by lipid peroxidation. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a sampling technique used in flexible bronchoscopy that can detect several biochemical agents that could be used as possible lung cancer biomarkers.


Objectives
To investigate the diagnostic utility of serum and BAL levels of paraoxonase enzyme in patients with lung cancer.


Patients and methods
The study included two groups: group I consisted of 25 patients diagnosed as having lung cancer, and group II consisted of 15 healthy volunteers. Clinical history taking, physical examination, radiological investigations such as chest radiograph and computed tomography, and routine laboratory tests were done for all studied cases. Serum and BAL samples were collected from all studied cases to evaluate PON1 enzyme activity by ELISA test.


Results
Paraoxonase enzyme was significantly lower in serum and BAL fluid samples in lung cancer cases compared with healthy persons. A significant positive correlation between PON1 levels was found in BAL and serum, and also there were significant positive correlations comparing PON1 enzymatic activity and lipid parameters (high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and cholesterol).


Conclusion
Levels of PON1 and its related variables could be used as good biomarkers for assessing patients with lung cancer.