The BAP test and the global assessment of oxidative stress ... - Medial

absorption of nutrients, etc.). In these casesalso, the aim of the BAP test is to identify andto prevent oxidative stress and its unwantedconsequences (early aging, diseases) (57).Moreover, the BAP test should be carriedout on all patients with oxidative stress-relateddiseases (more than one hundred), such asAlzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease,stroke, infarction, Crohn’s diseases, rheumatoidarthritis, AIDS, some cancers, etc. In all thesecases, the aim of the BAP test is to monitoroxidative stress and to prevent itsconsequences, by monitoring the efficacy ofspecific therapy, either alone or with aconcomitant antioxidant treatment (54). Onthis subject, it must be underlined that in manyof above mentioned diseases, all almost havinga chronic course, oxidative stress tends toraise the role of an additional health riskfactor. Therefore, it must be controlled in orderto optimize results of any treatment. Forinstance, the evidence, by means of BAP test,of a reduced biological antioxidant potential inhypertensive patients indicates a persistentimpairment of physiological defenses againstROS, which can be responsible for anincomplete control of the current disease bythe current anti-hypertensive treatment. Sucha finding suggests to the clinician an integratedtherapeutic approach, in which should be takeplace not only conventional, medical and/orsurgical treatments, but also the correction oflife-style and, eventually, the intake ofantioxidants.Finally, ideal candidates for the BAP testare all the subjects that undergopharmacotherapy (e. g. with chemotherapeuticals,hormone replacement therapy,contraceptive pill, etc.), surgical interventions(e. g. organ transplantation, by-pass, etc.),including dialysis, all conditions being able tofavor oxidative stress by increasing the dailyrequirements of antioxidants (53, 54).In all these conditions, the aim is toidentify and to prevent oxidative stress and itsconsequences, and, particularly, to monitor theefficacy of eventual current measures with theultimate objective of preventing oxidativetissue damage (56).Furthermore, according to the guidelines ofthe International Observatory of OxidativeStress, Free Radicals and Antioxidant Systems,the BAP test is very useful, together d-ROMstest, in the so-called global assessment ofoxidative stress, now very easy to performgrace to a specific diagnostic algorithm (41,58).In this situation, when d-ROMs value isincreased, an optimal value of BAP test shouldrequire the dosing of a single antioxidant.Alternatively, if such a dosing is not available,we suggest a mix of antioxidants according tothe RDA tables. This should enable theantioxidant defenses to balance the increasedoxidative status, as detected by the increasedd-ROMs test values, especially when more thanone risk factor is present (e. g. exposition toradiations, cigarette smoke, pollutants, etc.).11. Concluding remarksScientific evidence shows that BAP test isvery useful in the assessment of antioxidantactivity of blood plasma. AAccording to the wide available scientificliterature BAP test was validated by ESR/EPRand provided results that largely parallel tothose of FRAP test, against which it appearsquicker and simpler to perform. Indeed, thepreparation and management of the FRAPreagents is a step somewhat complex,compared to that of BAP test, so that manualprocedure of FRAP test can increase analyticalvariability. Moreover, a further increase ofanalytical accuracy was recently reached bythe application of BAP test to automaticanalytical devices.Finally, according to the novel concept ofglobal oxidative stress assessment, the BAPtest is a reliable assay able to integrate theresults of d-ROMs test, which allows for theassessing of the total oxidant status of bloodplasma.18www.fras4evolvo.it