Biomarkers of Oxidative stress in essential hypertension

Introduction There is a increasing amount of verification supporting the view that oxidative stress is involved and plays a important role in the pathophysiology of primary hypertension. Objective: This research examines the association of blood pressure with blood oxidative stress-related parameters in normotensive and hypertensive subjects. Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional design was applied to 32 hypertensive patients and 33 healthy normotensive subjects. All subjects were men between the ages of 35 and 60 years. Cases of dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, obesity, smoking and those taking medication were excluded from the study. In erythrocyte lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde) and reduced/ oxidized glutathione ratio (GSH/GSSG) were determined. Parameters measured in the plasma of test subjects were plasma antioxidant status, plasma vitamin C, vitamin E, lipid peroxidation (8-isoprostane), blood pressure modulators renin, aldosterone, endothelin-1, and homocysteine. Results: Daytime systolic and diastolic blood pressures of hypertensives were negatively correlated with plasma antioxidant capacity (r=–0.54, p=0.001 and r=–0.60, p<0.001), plasma vitamin C levels (r=–0.47, p=0.006 and r=–0.43, p=0.01), erythrocyte activity of antioxidant enzymes, and erythrocyte GSH/GSSG ratio, with hypertensives showing higher levels of oxidative stress. Conclusion: Blood pressures showed a positive correlation with both plasma and urine 8-isoprostane. These results show a strong association between blood pressure and some oxidative stress-related parameters and propose a probable role of oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of essential hypertensio

Serum concentration of selected trace elements and Gammaglutamyltransferase in alcoholic liver disease

Introduction: In South East Asia, India has turn out to be one of the major producers of alcohol. Hepatic manifestation of alcohol includes fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and chronic hepatitis with hepatic fibrosis or cirrhosis. Objective: The main aim of our study was to determine the concentrations of some important physiological metal ions and liver enzyme activity in chronic alcoholics. Materials & Methods: This was a case control study. The study involved 30 male patients of Alcoholic liver diseases (ALDs) from outpatient and inpatients department of Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Karimnagar as cases and 30 age-matched healthy male relatives of patients with no chronic illness as control group. AST, ALT, bilirubin, gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) and serum zinc, magnesium and copper of cases and controls were estimated compared. Results: In the current study we found that serum bilirubin levels, serum AST, ALT, GGT rose significantly in cases (P<0.001) when compared to controls. The cases have significantly lower level of serum Zinc and Magnesium when compared to healthy normal controls (P<0.0001). There is a significant elevation of serum copper levels in cases when compared to the healthy controls (P<0.001). Conclusion: Except copper both serum zinc and magnesium levels significantly reduced in ALD patients. The liver enzymes elevated in the chronic alcoholics denoting hepatic impairment in the cases. The estimation of the enzymes and cations helps in early diagnosis and also as prognostic marker for treatment in ALD patient