
Status Of Lipid Peroxidation, Glutathione, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin E And Antioxidant Enzymes In Neonatal Jaundice Patients
827-832
Correspondence
Surapaneni Krishna Mohan, Assistant Professor Department of Biochemistry, Saveetha Medical College & Hospital, Saveetha University, Chennai,Tamil Nadu, INDIA.E-mail: krishnamohan_surapaneni@yahoo.com
The exact pro-oxidant and antioxidant status in neonatal jaundice is still not clear. To add a new insight to the question, changes in the erythrocyte lipid peroxidation products (MDA), levels of glutathione (GSH), ascorbic acid and plasma vitamin E (non enzymatic antioxidant parameters) and activities of antioxidant enzymes super oxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), catalase in erythrocytes were studied in forty-eight neonatal jaundice patients and forty-eight healthy subjects. It was observed that there was a significant increase in erythrocyte MDA levels, activities of SOD, GPX and a significant decrease in erythrocyte GSH, ascorbic acid, plasma vitamin E levels and catalase activity in patients with neonatal jaundice when compared to controls. The results of our study have shown higher oxygen free radical production, evidenced by increased levels of MDA and decreased levels of GSH, ascorbic acid, vitamin E and catalase activity, supports the oxidative stress in neonatal jaundice patients. The increased activities of antioxidant enzymes may be a compensatory regulation in response to increased oxidative stress. The decreased concentration of the glutathione and antioxidant vitamin status supports the hypothesis that neonatal jaundice is an important causative factor in the pathogenesis of lipid peroxidation. These data reveal that antioxidant defense mechanisms might be impaired in neonatal jaundice patients. These findings also provide a theoretical basis for the development of novel therapeutic strategies, such as antioxidant supplementation.