Oxidative stress in non-obese women with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine diseases of women. Oxidative stress is an important component of the cardio-metabolic risk seen in these women. Oxidative stress has been reported in obese PCOS women. This study is taken up to study oxidative stress in non-obese PCOS women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty five non-obese women with PCOS attending the Endocrinology outpatient Department of Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati, India along with 25 healthy BMI matched controls were included in the study. The changes in the lipid peroxidation products (MDA), and total anti oxidant capacity (FRAP) as an index of anti oxidant status along with fasting glucose, insulin and uric acid levels were measured in both groups. Insulin resistance was evaluated by using homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance [HOMA-IR)= [FPG (mg/dl) × insulin (mIU/L)]/ 405] in both groups. RESULTS: Serum MDA and uric acid levels were increased in the study group compared with controls and FRAP levels were decreased in the study group compared to controls though statistically insignificant. CONCLUSION: Oxidative stress is also present in non-obese women with PCOS. Oxidative stress further increases the CVD risk in these women.Correcting oxidative stress with antioxidants along with monitoring the antioxidant status using a simple assay like FRAP could have a beneficial effect on oxidative stress induced insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism seen in these women.

An association of hyperglycemia with plasma malondialdehyde and atherogenic lipid risk factors in newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetic patients.

BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress (OS) generated by hyperglycemia, is one of the major focuses of recent research related to diabetes mellitus. Studying associations between hyperglycemia, OS and atherogenic dyslipidemia (AD) is therefore important. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Plasma was obtained form a total of 52 subjects with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 52 healthy controls to study associations between hyperglycemia, lipid risk factors for atherogenicity and malondialdehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxidation product. Ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) was evaluated as a measure of total antioxidant capacity (TAC). RESULTS: Diabetic patients had significantly higher (P < 0.05) plasma triglycerides (TG)), very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), TG to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL-C), atherogenic index (AI), and MDA. Whereas FRAP levels were depleted significantly in the patients compared to that of controls (P = 0.000). Pearson correlation analyses showed MDA correlates significantly with Fasting blood sugar (r = 0.39, P = 0.004), TG/HDL-C (r = 0.45, P = 0.001), and AI (r = 0.40, P = 0.003), and a significant negative correlation with LDL-C (r = -0.33, P = 0.019) which was lost upon nullifying the effect of FBS by partial correlation analysis (r = -0.28, P = 0.050). Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis showed high Area under curve for TG/HDL-C and AI (0.62; P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Hyperglycemia of diabetes is associated with elevated levels of plasma MDA. This study suggests that TG/HDL-C and AI may be particularly useful as atherogenic risk predictors in newly diagnosed patients with T2DM.

Branched chain amino acid profile in early chronic kidney disease.

The nutritional status in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients is a predictor of prognosis during the first period of dialysis. Serum albumin is the most commonly used nutritional marker. Another index is plasma amino acid profile. Of these, the plasma levels of branched chain amino acids (BCAA), especially valine and leucine, correlate well with nutritional status. Plasma BCAAs were evaluated along with albumin and C-reactive protein in 15 patients of early stages of CKD and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. A significant decrease in plasma valine, leucine and albumin levels was observed in CKD patients when compared with the controls (P <0.05). No significant difference in C-reactive protein (CRP) levels was observed between the two groups. Malnutrition seen in our CKD patients in the form of hypoalbuminemia and decreased concentrations of BCAA points to the need to evaluate the nutritional status in the early stages itself. Simple measures in the form of amino acid supplementation should be instituted early to decrease the morbidity and mortality before start of dialysis in these patients.