Glutathione Blood Concentrations: A Biomarker of Oxidative Damage Protection during Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Children

Background. Pediatric open-heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) still remains a risky interventional procedure at high mortality/morbidity. To date, there are no clinical, laboratory, and/or monitoring parameters providing useful information on perioperative stress. We therefore investigated whether blood concentrations of glutathione (GSH), a powerful endogenous antioxidant, changed in the perioperative period. Methods. We conducted an observational study in 35 congenital heart disease (CHD) children in whom perioperative standard laboratory and monitoring parameters and GSH blood levels were assessed at five monitoring time points. Results. GSH showed a pattern characterized by a progressive increase from pre-surgery up to 24 h after surgery, reaching its highest peak at the end of CPB. GSH measured at the end of CPB correlated with CPB duration, cross-clamping, arterial oxygen partial pressure, and with body core temperature. Conclusions. The increase in GSH levels in the perioperative period suggests a compensatory mechanism to oxidative damage during surgical procedure. Caution is needed in controlling different CPB phases, especially systemic reoxygenation in a population that is per se more prone to oxidative stress/damage. The findings may point the way to detecting the optimal temperature and oxygenation target by biomarker monitoring.