RESEARCH ARTICLE
Significance of Elevated Blood Metal Ion Levels in Patients with Metal-on-Metal Prostheses: An Evaluation of Oxidative Stress Markers
Cathy Tkaczyk1, Alain Petit2, John Antoniou2, David J Zukor2, Maryam Tabrizian1, Olga L Huk*, 2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2010Volume: 4
First Page: 221
Last Page: 227
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-4-221
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001004010221
Article History:
Received Date: 17/2/2010Revision Received Date: 24/3/2010
Acceptance Date: 10/4/2010
Electronic publication date: 2/7/2010
Collection year: 2010

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
It is widely known that cobalt and chromium ions can enhance the production of reactive oxygen species, known to be damaging to cells by disturbing their redox status and then generating oxidative stress. The aim of the present study was to determine if increased metal ion levels induce a state of oxidative stress in patients with metal-on-metal (MM) hip arthroplasty. Results indicated that there was no significant difference in the concentration of oxidative stress markers (total antioxidants, peroxides, and nitrated proteins) in the patients with MM bearings compared to patients without prostheses. The activity antioxidant enzymes was stable (catalase and glutathione peroxidase) or slightly decreased (superoxide dismutase and heme oxygenase-1) over time. This work is the first to determine the biological effects of metal ions released from MM hip implants with regards to mid-term systemic oxidative stress and showed that the increased levels of Co and Cr ions are not associated with significant oxidative stress damage in the plasma of patients with these implants.