Plasma antioxidant status in preterm infants in health and disease and its relation to vitamin C concentration at birth

Concentrations of circulating antioxidants may be important in the etiology of disease in preterm infants. We aimed at measuring vitamin C. ceruloplasmin and ability of plasma to prevent lipid peroxidation at birth and observing the variation of these measures with gestational age. We also examined the relation between plasma antioxidant activity in diseased preterm infants and their mortality. 30 diseased preterm infants requiring intensive care, 20 healthy preterm and 15 healthy full term infants were enrolled in the study. The antioxidant activity of plasma [ul plasma required to inhibit lipid peroxidation], plasma vitamin C and ceruloplasmin were measured. Diseased preterm infants showed significantly higher vitamin C, and significantly lower ceruloplasmin and antioxidant activity of plasma than healthy preterm and full term infants. In the preterm infants, there was a strong negative correlation between plasma antioxidant activity and vitamin C. Diseased preterm infants who died showed significanrly lower plasma antioxidant activity than those who survived

The lipid profile of the sera of patients with Buerger's disease and atherosclerosis

Thirty patients with Buerger's disease aged between 27- 45 years, and 30 other patients with atherosclerosis aged between 49-70 years were studied for their lipid profile compared to two corresponding control groups of similar age and sex. Total lipids and triglycerides concentrations were significantly increased in the sera of all atherosclerosis patients and exhibited normal levels in the sera of Buerger's disease, while total phospholipids, phosphatidyl ethanolamine and lipid peroxides were increased in both Buerger's and atherosclerotic patients. Sphingomyelin increased in Buerger's disease and decreased in atherosclerosis, Lysolecithin did not change in Buerger's disease but decreased in atherosclerosis. On the contrary, phosphatidyl choline decreased in Buerger's disease and did not change in atherosclerosis. However total cholesterol did not change significantly in both diseased groups. The aforementioned findings could be used as diagnostic parameters for Buerger's disease and as a discrimination tool to differentiate between Buerger's disease and atherosclerosis