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Abstract

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is the major cause of morbid-mortality in most countries. The involvement of oxidative stress (OS) in the development of atherosclerosis, ischemic cardiopathy triggering phenomen, has been investigated. Serum total homocysteine (Hcy) concentration was measured by fluorescence polarization immunoessay. Plasma levels of substances reacting with thiobarbituric acid (TBARS) were carried out by fluorimetric method (Yagi). Erythrocyte activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and plasma total antioxidant status (TAS) were determined by a colorimetric method at 505nm and 600nm, respectively. Erythrocyte activity of catalase (CAT) was measured by colorimetric assay (Góth). Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and the glutathione reductase (GR) erythrocyte activities were determined by a colorimetric method at 340 nm. Our study showed significant elevation of Hcy and TBARS levels in patients compared to controls. While we noted significant decrease in TAS levels, SOD, CAT, GPx and GR activities in patients compared to the control group. We also noted positive correlations between: Hcy-TBARS, SOD-TAS, CAT-TAS, GR-TAS, GPx-TAS, SOD-CAT and GPx-GR. However negative correlations between: Hcy-SOD, Hcy-CAT, Hcy-GPx, Hcy-GR, Hcy-TAS, TBARS-SOD, TBARS-CAT, TBARS-GPx, TBARS-GR and TBARS-TAS were founded. This unsuitability, elevated prooxidant rate parameters and decrease of antioxidant parameters in patients compared to controls allows supporting the hypothesis that OS is involved in the genesis and progression of atherosclerosis. INTRODUCTION: Inappropriate oxidation of biomolecules is a hazard associated with all aerobic life. Harmful oxidation is often mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are generated by a wide range of biological processes, including mitochondrial respiration and both enzymatic and non-enzymatic chemical reactions 1. The fine balance between ROS and antioxidants-that "neutralize" ROS before their react with cellular components and alter their structure or function 2 is disturbed when excessive amounts of free radicals (FR) are produced or antioxidant capacity is decreased 3 .