Nitrostative stress status during seasonal and pdmH1N1 infection in Iraq.

Introduction: Influenza A virus infection is associated with oxidative and nitrosative stress. This study aimed to assess nitrosative stress in pandemic H1N1 (pdmH1N1) and seasonal influenza A infected patients.

Methodology: The study included the following subjects:  20 patients infected with seasonal (negative one-step probe RT-PCR) influenza and 12 patients infected with pdmH1N1 (positive, one-step probe RT-PCR) influenza during the 2009 pandemic in Iraq. Twenty healthy subjects served as controls. Serum nitric oxide using Greiss reagent and peroxynitrite were used to assess nitrosative stress status.

Results: Serum nitric oxide and peroxynitrite are significantly increased in patients infected with seasonal and pdmH1N1 influenza compared with the levels in healthy subjects. Infected patients with seasonal influenza showed significantly higher numbers of serum nitrogen species than corresponding pdmH1N1 infected patients. The turnover process reflected by the peroxynitrite/nitric oxide ratio was 0.177, 0.313 and 0.214 in healthy subjects, seasonal and pdmH1N1infected patients respectively.

Conclusions: Influenza A virus infection is associated with significant nitrosative stress activity which is more pronounced in seasonal than in pdmH1N1 infected patients. The determination of serum nitric oxide and peroxynitrite may serve as biochemical markers.