Urinary 8-hydroxyguanine may be a better marker of oxidative stress than 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine in relation to the life spans of various species.

Oxidative DNA damage is believed to be involved in the aging process. Species with shorter potential life spans generally have a higher specific metabolic rate (SMR), and would be expected to have increased levels of oxidative stress and DNA damage, as compared to long-lived species. An automatized HPLC method based on electrochemical detection was used to measure the levels of the oxidative DNA damage markers 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) and 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OH-Gua) in urinary samples from mammals with various potential life spans (mice, rats, guinea pigs, cats, chimpanzees, and humans). There was no significant linear correlation (r = -0.71, p = 0.11) between the species' potential life spans (log transformed) and the urinary levels of 8-OH-dG as normalized to creatinine (8-OH-dG/creatinine), although the species with longer life spans, such as chimpanzee and human, had among the lowest levels detected. In contrast, the negative linear correlation between the species' potential life span (log transformed) and the urinary levels of 8-OH-Gua as normalized to creatinine (8-OH-Gua/creatinine), was significant (r = -0.97, p = 0.002). In addition, there was a positive linear and significant correlation between SMR and 8-OH-dG/creatinine (r = 0.91, p = 0.01) or 8- OH-Gua/creatinine (r = 0.90, p = 0.01). These results suggest that 8-OH-Gua, rather than 8-OH-dG, may be a more general marker for oxidative damage.