LDL Oxidation, Total Radical Trapping Antioxidant Potential and Plasma Antioxidant Vitamin Systems in Obese School Children

The purpose of this study was to examine the lipid peroxidation, plasma antioxidant status and insulin resistance in childhood obesity. To this end, we measured blood lipid profiles, glucose, insulin concentrations, plasma antioxidant vitamins, baseline conjugated diene formation as a measure of LDL oxidation in vivo and TRAP (total radical trapping antioxidant potential) of 93 school children (58 nonobese, 35 overweight-obese). Insulin resistance was estimated by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). The overweight-obese children showed significantly higher levels of leptin (p < 0.0001) and triglyceride (p < 0.05) and significantly lower level of plasma lycopene (p < 0.001) and gamma-tocopherol (p < 0.05) compared with the normal weight children. Furthermore, the levels of TRAP were signi-ficantly lower in overweight-obese children (p < 0.05). Significant positive relationships between plasma leptin and conjugated dienes formation (p < 0.005) and inverse relationship between plasma leptin and lipid corrected levels of beta-carotene (p < 0.05), lycopene (p < 0.05) were observed. Our results showed an increased lipid peroxidation and dec-reased antioxidant capacity in childhood obesity which could be involved in the atherosclerotic process.

Pregnancy Outcomes in Relation to Plasma TRAP Concentration of Maternal and Umbilical Cord

The purpose of this study was to analyze the intake of antioxidant vitamins and plasma TRAP concentrations of 60 maternal-infant pairs (30 in normal term delivery group, NT; 30 in preterm group, PT). We also investigated the relationship between plasma TRAP levels of maternal-umbilical cord blood and pregnancy outcomes. Mean energy intakes of NT and PT pregnant women were 93.2% and 85.4% and their protein intakes were 113.3% and 110.9% of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA), respectively. The vitamin A intakes of NT and PT pregnant women were 559.7 RE and 497.8 RE, which were less than RDA. While the vitamin E and C intakes of both NT and PT pregnant women were more than RDA. The maternal plasma TRAP level of PT was 1.41 mmol/l and that of NT was 1.50 mmol/l, which was significantly higher than TRAP level of PT (p < 0.05). The umblical cord plasma TRAP levels of NT and PT were 1.44 mmol/l and 1.23 mmol/l, which indicates the significant difference between those two groups (p < 0.001). In case of comparing the TRAP level of maternal and umbilical cord blood, there was no significant difference in NT pregnant women, however, in PT group maternal the TRAP level significant higher than that of umbilical cord (p < 0.001). The length of gestation and plasma TRAP level of maternal and umbilical cord showed a positive correlation. However, other parameters of pregnancy outcomes such as birth weight, weight gain, and Apgar score were not affected by the plasma TRAP levels. Based on these results, preterm infants could have a risk of oxidative stress because of low plasma TRAP level.