A Comparison of Thiol/Disulphide Levels of Workers in Operating Rooms and Emergency Healthcare Centers

Objective: Thiol/disulphide homeostasis has a crucial role for life. The aim of this study was to compare thiol/disulphide homeostasis in healthcare professionals working in the operating room (Group 1) and healthcare professionals working in the emergency department (Group 2). Materials-Methods: This was a descriptive study. Fortynine operating room volunteers (Group 1) and 49 emergency department volunteers (Group 2) were included in this study. Thiol and disulphide concentrations were measured using the novel automated measurement method developed by Erel & Neşelioğlu in 2014. Result: The thiol/disulphide levels were compared in both groups; Native thiol in group 1 was 353,57 ± 49,86 μmol.L-1, and it was  333,73 ± 37,38 μmol.L-1 (p = 0.028) in group 2. total thiol values were 384,71 ± 52,36 μmol.L⁻¹ and 370,94 15,56 ± 5,36 μmol.L-1(P =0,133), respectively in group 1 and 2. In group 1,disulphide levels were  15,56±5,36 μmol.L-1,  in  group 2 it was  18,61 ± 7,71 μmol.L-1 (p = 0,025), disulphide/native thiol in  group 1 was 4,47 ± 1 %, and in  group 2 it was measured %, 5,73 ± 2,95% (p = 0.009). Disulphide/total thiol in the group 1 was 4,06 ± 1,32% and 5,03 ± 2,13% (p = 0,008) in group 2. Native thiol / total thiol levels were 90,23 ± 12,16% in group 1  and 89,93 ± 4,26% in  group 2 (p = 0,871). Native thiol level in group 1 and high level of disulphide in group 2 indicate that the exposure to oxidative stress in the emergency department is higher than in the operating room. Conclusion: Our results show that participants of emergency room group have statistically higher levels of disulphide than participants working in operating room which may suggest presence of oxidative stress related with workplace exposures.   Key Words: Health personnel, oxidative stress, thiol/disulphide homeostasis.