Abstract

EVALVUATION OF NON ENZYMATIC ANTIOXIDANTS IN ASTHMATICS

Rajalakshmi A.G¹, Sudha S.²*

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species might play an important role in the modulation of asthma. There is consistent evidence that oxidantantioxidant imbalance in asthmatics. This study was conducted to evaluate the oxidant - antioxidant imbalance in asthmatics, by measuring the levels of non enzymatic antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene and reduced glutathione (GSH) and to investigate whether their concentrations are associated with the severity of asthma. Vitamin-C, vitamin-E, beta carotene and reduced glutathione (GSH), levels of 60 asthmatics were compared to age and gender matched controls. Asthmatic subjects had significantly lower levels of Vitamin-C, Vitamin-E, beta -carotene and reduced glutathione (GSH), when compared to the respective controls. Variation of the measured parameters confirms that oxidative stress and defective antioxidant status could represent the primary causative factor in the pathogenesis of asthma.

Keywords: Non enzymatic antioxidants, ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, ß-carotenoids and reduced glutathione.