Assessment of preoperative serum prolidase activity in epithelial ovarian cancer

Objective: Prolidase is a cytosolic exopeptidase that cleaves iminodipeptides with C-terminal proline and hydroxyproline and plays a major role in collagen turnover. The aim of this study was to evaluate preoperative serum prolidase activity, total oxidant status (TOS), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in patients with newly diagnosed epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Study design: Serum proliclase activity, TOS, and TAC were measured spectrophotometrically in both EOC cases (n = 28) and controls (n = 28). Results: Preoperative serum proliclase activity and TOS were significantly higher in patients with EOC compared to controls (p = 0.009 and 0.008, respectively), whereas TAC was significantly lower in cases (p < 0.001). A significant positive correlation was found between the stage, grade, and CA-125 level of EOC and serum proliclase activity (rho = 0 466, p=0.012; rho = 0.501, p = 0.007; and rho = 0.447, p = 0.017, respectively) and TOS (rho = 0.588,p = 0.001; rho = 0.412, p = 0.029; and rho = 0.568, p = 0.002, respectively). In contrast, there was a negative correlation between TAC and the stage, grade, and CA-I 25 level of EOC (rho = -0.555, p = 0.002; rho = -0.566, p = 0.002; and rho = -0.581, p = 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Findings of the present study demonstrate that serum proliclase activity is significantly associated with the stage, tumor grade, and preoperative CA-125 level of EOC. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.