Recurrent aphthous stomatitis, oxidative stress, and ischemia modified albumin: A cross-sectional study

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis is an inflammatory disease characterized by painful ulcers on the oral mucosa. Oxidative stress is held responsible for the pathogenesis of this disease of unknown etiology. In oxidative stress, the balance between oxidant-antioxidant substances changes in favor of the oxidative side. Ischaemia modified albumin (IMA) is a new type of albumin. It occurs as a result of factors such as ischemic attacks and oxidative stress. The aim of the study was to compare IMA levels in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis with healthy volunteers and to investigate whether IMA has a diagnostic value in the disease. This cross-sectional study included 32 patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis and 34 healthy volunteers of similar age and sex. Albumin and IMA levels were determined by spectrophotometric albumin cobalt binding assay in venous blood samples on the same day. IMA was expressed as absorbance unit. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to determine whether IMA values could be a diagnostic marker for prediction of disease. IMA values of the patient group were significantly higher than IMA values of the control group (P < .001). IMA was statistically significant in the prediction of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (P < .001). The discrimination power for IMA was very good (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 95% CI = 0.952 [0.897-1.000]). Recurrent aphthous stomatitis, in which oxidative stress plays a role in the etiopathogenesis, is closely associated with high IMA levels. IMA levels may have diagnostic value as an indicator of oxidative stress in the disease.