Leukocyte Oxidant and Antioxidant Status in Asthmatic Patients

Background ive stress mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is recognized to contribute significantly to the inflammatory process of bronchial asthma (BA). These species are released into the airway by activated inflammatory cells such as leukocytes. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the oxidant-antioxidant balance is changed in leukocytes of patients with BA. s eight patients (21 male, 17 female) aged 22–68 years and controls of 32 subjects (18 male, 14 female) aged 20–63 years were included in the study. A total of 10 mL venous blood was drawn, leukocytes were separated and lipid peroxidation (LPO), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and vitamin C levels were determined in both patients and controls. s yte LPO and SOD activity in the patient group were higher than that of controls (p <0.001 and p <0.05, respectively). However, leukocyte GSH-Px and vitamin C levels in the patient group were lower than that of controls (p <0.01 and p <0.001, respectively). sions sults suggest that there are alterations in a wide array of oxidants and antioxidants with balance shifting toward increased oxidative stress in BA.