The International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE)
Abstract
Asthma is a chronic airway inflammation which involves the interplay of different types of inflammatory cells and cytokines in the airway. The present study evaluates the antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and Catalase levels. The results showed a significant increase (P˂0.05) in erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in asthmatic patients as compared to control group. While there were a significant decrease in glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (P˂0.05) and Catalase (CAT) (P˂0.05) activities in patients as compared to control group, in accordance with age, severity, smoking and family history. But, there were no significant changes in the enzymes levels between males and females. The results indicated that antioxidant enzymes could play an important role in gen- environment interaction in complex lung disease such as asthma. Keywords: MDA: Malondialdehyde, SOD: Superoxide dismutase, GPx: Glutathione peroxidase, CAT: Catalase, ROS: Reactive oxygen species
