The Association between Adult Asthma and Superoxide Dismutase and Catalase Gene Activity

Abstract

Background: Adult asthma is caused by interaction effects of multiple genetic and environmental factors. Some studies have suggested that antioxidant enzyme activity and gene polymorphisms may play important roles in the context of asthma. Therefore, our study objectives were to investigate the association between asthma, antioxidant activities and the polymorphisms of manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) or catalase (CAT). Materials and Methods: A case-control study, for which we recruited 250 asthmatic adults and 250 age- and sex-matched controls. All subjects completed a questionnaire. Waist and hip circumference measurements, a lung function test and DNA genotyping were performed. In total, 50 incident cases and 50 matched controls who were non-smokers or had quit smoking for at least 1 year were selected in order to investigate SOD and CAT activity levels. Results: In our study, we did not find a significant association between Mn-SOD Ala16Val, CAT C–262T and asthma. The level of SOD activity in new-onset asthma patients was significantly lower than in control subjects (p < 0.0005). The level of CAT activity in new-onset asthma patients was significantly higher than in control subjects (p < 0.0005). Conclusions: The levels of SOD and CAT activity were significantly related to adult asthma. SOD and CAT activity may be good tools to differentiate potential asthma sufferers. This would enable us to further investigate the mechanism of defective antioxidant enzymes in the context of asthma pathogenesis.

The Effect of <b><i>Allium cepa</i></b> Extract on Lung Oxidant, Antioxidant, and Immunological Biomarkers in Ovalbumin-Sensitized Rats

“…The role of thiol, an early marker of oxidative stress in asthma, in the reduction of SOD [29] and CAT activity in asthmatic patients was stressed previously [30], which was in agreement with the changes observed in sensitized animals in this study. In addition, similar to the findings of the present study, upregulation of the release of Th2 cytokines (mainly IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) and downregulation of the release of IFN-γ were also noticed in asthmatic patients [30].…”

Gene Polymorphisms of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha and Antioxidant Enzymes in Bronchial Asthma

“…Our results show that the distribution of the MnSOD 16Ala allele is 69.5% in a Serbian population. Some of the previous studies did not confirm the assumption that the MnSOD Ala16Val polymorphism is a predisposing factor for bronchial asthma [14][15][16][17]. Nevertheless, the possibility that, together with other defects in the antioxidant defense system, SOD genes may become significant in inflammatory airway diseases associated with oxidant stress, is not excluded.…”

Genetic Polymorphism of C-262T Catalase and Susceptibility to Schizophrenia

“…At present we know that chronic exposure to excess ROS may contribute to brain damage and pathophysiology of schizophrenia [1,2,11,12], CAT involved in detoxification of ROS [5][6][7][8][9][10], and C-262T polymorphism is associated with CAT activity [3,4]. Taken together, these findings sufficiently provide us with a theoretical ration to investigate the association between CAT C-262T polymorphism and susceptibility to schizophrenia.…”

“…Several studies indicated that the polymorphism of C-262T CAT is associated with some multifactorial diseases [5][6][7][8][9][10]. At present we know that chronic exposure to excess ROS may contribute to brain damage and pathophysiology of schizophrenia [1,2,11,12], CAT involved in detoxification of ROS [5][6][7][8][9][10], and C-262T polymorphism is associated with CAT activity [3,4].…”