ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease characterized vascular damage and fi brosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relation between systemic sclerosis and paraoxonase which is an antioxidant enzyme on the HDL. Methods: Twenty nine patients with SSc and 16 healthy subjects (control group) participated in the study. Plasma cholesterol levels, anti-centromere antibody (ACA) levels and paraoxonase (PON) activities were measured. Results: Lower level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was observed in ACA negative SSc patients than in controls. Paraoxonase activity in ACA positive patients was however found to increase relative to control and ACA negative patient groups. Interpretation & conclusions: Our fi ndings suggested that low HDL level in ACA negative SSc patients might be one of the factors leading to some vascular problems, and increased PON activity in ACA positive SSc group might have some role in the limitation of cutaneous sclerotic process observed in these patients. However, these preliminary fi ndings need to be confi rmed with a larger sample.