A Predictor of Oxidative Stress in the Children with Measles: Thiol–Disulfide Homeostasis

Objective: Measles is an infectious disease, in which oxidative stress increases. Thiols are an antioxidant substance which play a critical role in programmed cell death, detoxification, and regulation of cellular enzymatic activity, and the thiol–disulfide balance is associated with some diseases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thiol–disulfide balance in children with measles. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study included case and control groups. The plasma total oxidant status level was measured using the Erel method, and the groups were compared. Before the study, informed consent was obtained from patients and Ethics Committee approval was provided (No:17/Session:05, Date: May 2019). The Pearson’s and Fisher’s chi-square tests were applied in the comparisons of categorical data, and independent t-test/Mann–Whitney U tests were used to compare the patient and the control groups. Results: There were no significant differences between the patient-control groups in terms of age and gender (P > .05). The total antioxidant status value was significantly lower, and the total oxidant status and oxidative stress index values were significantly higher (P < .05) in the patient group compared to the control group. Native thiol, total thiol, and native thiol/total thiol percentage values were significantly lower, and the disulfide, disulfide/native thiol, and disulfide/total thiol percentage values were significantly higher (P < .05) in the patients compared to the controls. Conclusions: The detection of oxidative stress in patients with measles is important, and these results show the possibility of using the thiol/disulfide homeostasis and oxidative stress index values as biomarkers of oxidative stress in patients with measles.