Susceptibility to Oxidative Stress is Greater in Korean Patients with Coronary Artery Disease than Healthy Subjects

There are some evidences that the increased oxidative stress and thus increased oxidizability of lipoproteins and DNA can contribute to the development of certain human diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. To confirm the association of DNA damage with cardiovascular disease, we investigated susceptibility of DNA to oxidation in lymphocytes and oxidative stress related parameters in blood of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Subjects were consisted of 42 patients (27 men, 15 women) with documented CAD and 49 apparently healthy subjects (33 men, 16 women) as controls. Cellular DNA damage induced by 100 microM H(2)O(2) was measured using Comet assay and quantified by TL. There were no differences in age (61.4 +/- 1.7 years vs 62.0 +/- 2.2 years) between the two groups. All the findings were shown to be independent of either sex or smoking habit. The patients showed significantly higher TL (87.3 +/- 1.6 microm) compared to the control (79.3 +/- 1.7 microm, p<0.01). Plasma TRAP, vitamin C, gamma-tocopherol, and alpha-carotene levels in patients group were lower than those of control groups, while erythrocytic catalase activity increased in patients group. In conclusion, we observed that reduced overall antioxidant status was closely connected to higher susceptibility of DNA damage in CAD patients.