Alteration in Antioxidant Capacity in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major public health problem that needs greater attention. Variability in the susceptibility to develop COPD is related to both genetic and environmental factors. Oxidative stress and inflammation are the major hallmarks of COPD and antioxidant status can be used as a biomarker to assess the risk of chronic diseases. Materials and Methods: We used the FRAP (ferric reducing ability of plasma) assay as a simple and powerful test for determination of the total antioxidant capacity of plasma of patients and normal subjects. The patients were selected by cross-sectional method. The mean average age ±SD of normal subjects and patients was 56 ± 4 and 60±2 years respectively. The spectrophotometeric method was used for this assay. Results: The means of the FRAP assays in the patients were higher (about twice) than those of normal subjects. The differences were significant (p<0.01). Conclusion: The high levels of antioxidant capacity in the patient group indicated that the antioxidant defense system had been activated due to the oxidative stress and hypoxic condition. A though, FRAP assay can probably be used for demarcation of severity and risk of developing COPD, clinical follow-up and further investigation are required for the assessment of this hypothesis. (Tanaffos 2007; 6(4): 13-17)