Decreased oxidative stress in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy one year after immunoglobulin adsorption.

OBJECTIVES In a substudy to a recently reported investigation that demonstrated the benefit of immunoglobulin adsorption (immunoadsorption) for patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC), we tested whether this benefit is associated with a reduction of oxidative stress. BACKGROUND The progression of cardiomyopathy is believed to be related to the increase of oxidative stress. Therefore, reduction of oxidative stress could be one of the effects of immunoadsorption for improvement of cardiac performance and clinical status. METHODS Plasma markers for oxidative stress-thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), lipid peroxides (LPO), anti-oxidized low-density lipoprotein-autoantibodies (anti-oxLDL-AB), thiol groups and vitamin E-were compared in 31 patients, of whom 16 underwent immunoadsorption and 15 received conventional treatment (controls). All patients received a daily supplement of vitamins, minerals and trace elements. RESULTS After one year, TBARS (p = 0.026), LPO (p = 0.026) and anti-oxLD