Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the dietary intake of antioxidant vitamins, the level of antioxidant vitamins (retinol, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol), lipid peroxidation, and the capacity of antioxidants in exfoliated cervicovaginal cells by lavage technique in normal women and patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in Korea.
Methods: The study included 56 patients with histopathologically diagnosed CIN and 63 healthy women as control in the Department of Gynecology Cancer Center in Samsung Cheil Hospital and Women’s Healthcare Center between December 2002 and March 2003. Data on dietary intake were collected with semiquantitative frequency questionnaire method. Retinol, beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol were assayed with high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The levels of lipid peroxidation (MDA) and antioxidant capacity (TRAP) were determined by fluorometric method and inhibition assay method.
Results: The intake of antioxidant vitamins in both groups exceeds the amount recommended by the Korea dietary recommendation 7th ed, which was relatively good. Cervicovaginal cells beta-carotene levels were found to be significantly decreased (p<0.001), and alpha-tocopherol, and retinol levels were significantly increased in patients with CIN as compare with controls (p<0.05). The average concentration of cervicovaginal cellular malondialdehydes (MDA) in the patients was significantly higher (p<0.001) than the control group and total radical trapping antioxidant potential (TRAP) concentration was significantly lower than the control group (p<0.001).
Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the levels of in situ beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, retinol, malondialdehydes, and total radical trapping antioxidant potential concentration were measurable in samples of exfoliated epithelial cells obtained by cervicovaginal lavage technique. These findings support to hypothesis that changes of cervicovaginal cellular antioxidants vitamins lipid peroxidation may have an etiologic role in the pathogenesis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
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