Pregnancy is characterized by changes in various organs, triggering changes in the use of energy substrates and increased oxygen consumption. In addition, gestation is an oxidative event that can be assessed by the relationship between free radicals and antioxidants produced by the body. Excessive production of free radicals has detrimental effects such as damage to enzymes, carbohydrates, and DNA. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the oxidative status and antioxidant responses throughout pregnancy through a longitudinal study. Reactive oxygen species were analyzed by means of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and nitric oxide, the antioxidant system through vitamin C, sulfhydryl groups, total antioxidant capacity, and ferric reducing ability of plasma as well as enzymes such as catalase and delta-aminolevulinate-dehydratase in pregnant women in the three gestational trimesters (n = 30). According to the results, the markers of oxidative damage showed significant differences in the different gestational trimesters where they were increased in the second trimester when compared to the first trimester. The antioxidant defenses responded differently in each gestational trimester, suggesting a response pattern to try to combat the damage caused by free radicals, in order to stabilize the increase of oxidative stress caused in the second gestational trimester.

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The aim of this study was to perform a comparative evaluation between pregnant women: healthy, with pre-gestational type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), to determine if diabetes mellitus developed at different times interferes with the oxidative impact on the pregnant woman maternal body. A total of 90 pregnant women were recruited in the third trimester of pregnancy, subdivided into the three groups, and evaluated through their clinical characteristics, oxidative stress markers and delta-aminolevulinate dehydratase (δ-ALA- D) activity. Pregnant women with diabetes mellitus (DM) showed an increase in: age, pre-gestational and gestational body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, blood glucose and platelet count; those with T2DM had higher pre-gestational BMI and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). The levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were higher and the levels of non-protein thiols and catalase activity were lower in the DM groups compared to the control. Vitamin C was decreased in the T2DM group. The δ-ALA-D activity was decreased in pregnant women with GDM and the rate of enzymatic reactivation was higher in the DM groups. DM presented in gestation, regardless of the moment of its development, generates increase of the oxidative stress and decrease of the antioxidant defences, representing the largest difference with the control group. It is suggested that the insulin used in the treatment of T2DM acts in a beneficial way in the δ-ALA-D activity.

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