Oxidative DNA damage in chronic renal failure patients.

Background: Chronic renal failure (CRF) patients present a high incidence of cardiovascular pathologies and cancer. This has been attributed to the existence of genomic instability in these patients, and consequently they should present elevated levels of genetic damage.

Methods: To determine the background levels of genetic damage and its specific levels of oxidative damage, a large population of 253 CRF patients (77 in dialysis) was analysed using the comet assay.