In a long-term study, I plan to measure markers of oxidative stress (such as HNE or 8OHdG) along with telomere dynamics. Due to the assessment of many parameters in the protocol, it will be very difficult to repetitively measure markers of oxidative stress in the blood plasma of the animals. Therefore I was thinking of assessing oxidative stress markers in the urine instead of blood plasma (I alrady know the desired markers are possible to measure in urine). In general, a measurement of a given parameter in the blood plasma provides a 'picture' at a certain time t, however looking at a given parameter in the urine reflects a cumulative effect over time of a certain duration (i.e. the time between two mictions). Does somebody know how good urine levels of oxidative stress markers relate to/reflect the telomere dynamic of an individual?
Looking forward to your thoughts!!
Sylvain
The answer depends on the goal of your study.
Measuring readouts of oxidative stress in urine likely will reflect mainly oxidative stress levels in the urinary tract rather that systemic levels of oxidative stress.
If you goal is to measure oxidative stress in plasma samples, why not try to measure TBARs (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances). There are commercial kits to measure TBARs and this assay should work on plasma samples.
Thank you Caroline and Andrey for your inputs on my question!! They will for sure help me a lot in my study :-)
From what I understand, both plasma and urinary 8-OHdG should integrate whole-body damage to DNA (and not necessarily only urinary tract as mentioned above), since 8-OHdG is not metabolized within the cell and has to be excreted through urine (and thus transit by the plasma). However, this will only integrate 8-OHdG that has been excised/repaired by enzymes within the cells, meaning that palsma/urinary 8-OHdG levels could also be influenced by the rate of repair, and not only by the rate of damage. Since your aim is to relate it to relomere dynamics, I would maybe measure 8-OHdG in the same DNA samples that you are using for telomere qPCR. With only 600ng of DNA, you have enough material to mesure 8-OHdG in duplicate (Epigentek kit), if 8-OHdG levels are high enough to be detected through ELISA assay. Drop be an email if you want more info and good luck with your project.
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