Cardiovascular disease markers in women with polycystic ovary syndrome with emphasis on asymmetric dimethylarginine and homocysteine

Polycystic ovary syndrome [PCOS] is a disorder characterized by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, and polycystic ovaries. Little is known about cardiovascular risk factors in patients with PCOS. We investigated plasma markers of cardiovascular disease in Saudi women with PCOS, with an emphasis on asymmetric dimethylarginine [ADMA] and total homocysteine [tHcy]. Fifty Saudi women with PCOS diagnosed by the Rotterdam criteria [mean age [SD] 30.2 [3.0] years] and 40 controls without PCOS [mean age 29.3 [2.5] years] had measyrements taken of clinical, metabolic, and hormonal parameters, including plasma ADMA, tHcy, lipoprotein [a] [[Lp[a]], and serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein [hs-CRP], nitric oxid, and fibrinogen. Insulin resistance was calculated by the homeostasis model assessment [HOMA-IR]. Women with PCOS had significantly higher fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, and luteinizing hormone [LH] levels than healthy controls [P<.001]. Lipid profile, free androgen index [FAI], ADMA, tHcy, hsCRP, and Lp[a] were significantly higher in women with PCOS compared with healthy controls [P<.001]. The women with PCOS had significantly lower nitric oxide and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C] levels compared with healthy controls [P<.001]. Our study revealed that Saudi women with PCOS had a significantly different levels of plasma markers of cardiovascular disease compared with normal controls. Therefore, clinicians who manage women with PCOS should follow up on these markers to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease

Antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects of grape seed extract on carbon tetra chloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

In the present study, protective effects of grape seed extract [GSE] have been evaluated on carbon tetrachloride [CCI[4]]-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Forty Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five groups. Group I was used as control and received liquid paraffin [1 ml/kg, i.p.]. Rats in group H were injected every other day with CCI[4] [1 ml/kg body weight, i.p.] for 1 month, whereas rats in group III were pretreated orally with GSE [500 mg/kg, p.o.] 7 days before CCI[4] injection every other day for 1 month. Groups IV and V were prophylactically treated with GSE [500 mg/kg, p.o.] and silymarin [25 mg/kg, p.o.] for 1 month, respectively. At the end of the experiment, all animals were killed by decapitation and blood samples were obtained. Serum aspartate aminotransferase [AST], alanine aminotransferase [ALT], alkaline phosphatase [ALP], gamma glutamyl transferase [gamma GT], total and conjugated bilirubin levels were determined. Hepatic thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [FBARS, as index of lipid peroxidation] content, reduced glutathione [GSH] and the activities of enzymatic antioxidants; glutathione peroxidase [GSH-Px], superoxide dismutase [SOD] and catalase were determined. For histopathological evaluation, livers of all rats were removed and processed for light microscopy. All biochemical parameters in serum and the hepatic TBARS were significantly higher while enzymatic antioxidants, GSH-Px, SOD, catalase and hepatic GSH were significantly lower in animals treated with CCI[4] than in the controls. Rats treated with CCI[4] and GSE showed a significant reduction in biochemical parameters in serum and hepatic TBARS content Silymarin used as reference standard also exhibited significant hepatoprotective activity against CCI[4]. Livers of rats treated with CCI[4] showed classic histology of cirrhosis, whereas the histopathological changes were reduced after administration of CCI[4] and GSE. Results of this study revealed that GSE could afford a significant protection against CCI[4]-induced hepatotoxicity. GSE had a similar protective effect when compared with silymarin.

In vitro study of antioxidant properties of parsley [petroselinum sativum M.] seed extracts

In this study, the antioxidant activity of aqueous extract of parsley [Petroselinum sativum M.] seeds [PA] was evaluated by various antioxidant assay, including total antioxidant, radical scavenging activity by DPPH reduction, superoxide anion, nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide scavenging activities. Furthermore, inhibition of lipid peroxidation, metal chelating and reducing power activities of PA extract were also evaluated. Those various antioxidant activities were compared to standard antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole [BHA] and a-tocopherol The PA extract of seeds showed strong antioxidant activity. Parsley extract at doses 50, 100 and 200 micro g/ml exhibited 38.2,71.6 and 83.8% inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation in a concentration-dependant manner, respectively. On the other hand, a-tocopherol or BHA exhibited 413 and 80.2% respectively. The PA extract have effective reducing power, free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, nitric oxide radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, and metal chelating activities. This antioxidant property depends on concentration and increasing with increased amount of sample. In addition, total phenolic compounds in the PA seeds were determined as gallic acid equivalents. The results obtained in the present study indicated that the PA seed is a potential source of natural antioxidant From the above assays, the possible mechanism of antioxidant activity of parsley seeds includes reductive ability, metal chelator, hydrogen donating ability and scavengers of hydrogen peroxide, superoxide and nitric oxide radicals.

Oxidative stress in preteclampsia: Role of homocysteine

To evaluate the possible role of homocysteine [Hcy] in inducing oxidative stress in preeclampsia, plasma Hcy was measured. Twenty preeclamptic pregnant, 20 normotensive pregnant and 20 healthy non- pregnant women were analyzed with regard to plasma Hcy, lipid peroxidation, antioxidant status, tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF- alpha], cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid and creatinine. Plasma Hcy concentrations were significantly higher in preeclamptic women than in controls [11.9 and 8.3 mumol/L, respectively. Similarly, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances [TBARS], as an index of lipid peroxidation were significantly higher in preeclamptic women than healthy non-pregnant women [1.97 vs 0.61 mumol/L, again with no significant difference between normotensive pregnant and healthy non- pregnant women. A significant decrease of antioxidant vitamins [vitamin C and vitamin E], glutathione [GSH] and antioxidant enzymes [superoxide dismutase [SOD], catalase and glutathione peroxidase [GSHPx]] were observed in the serum and erythrocytes of preeclamptic women compared to women with normotensive pregnancy. Serum TNF-alpha, cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid and creatinine showed high levels in preeclamptic pregnant women when compared to both other groups

Glutathione redox system and antioxidant vitamins in smokers and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of smoking on plasma glutathione redox system and antioxidant vitamins [A, E and C] levels. The study included 80 subjects: 20 healthy nonsmokers, 32 healthy asymptomatic smokers and 28 smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]. The plasma lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation were significantly increased in the smokers [mild, moderate and heavy], an effect that was exaggerated in healthy smokers and smokers with COPD. Plasma levels of reduced glutathione [GSH], oxidized glutathione [GSSG] and activities of glutathione peroxidase [Se-GPx and Se-independent-GPx] were markedly increased in smokers compared with nonsmokers. It was concluded that cigarette smoking is involved in the development of oxidative stress by different mechanisms