Abstrakt

Oxidative modification in diabetic neuropathy

T.Vivian Samuel, Jayaprakash Murthy, S.Smilee Johncy

Oxidative stress and impaired anti-oxidant defense have been suggested as contributory factors for initiation and progression of complications in diabetes mellitus. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the levels of selected oxidation and antioxidation indicators in relevance to diabetic complication, neuropathy and to determine the impact of glycemic control on such parameters. Thirty patients with diabetic neuropathy and thirty age matched healthy controls were included in the study. Fasting blood glucose was estimated to assess the severity of diabetes and the glycemic control. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured as markers of oxidative stress by thiobarbituric acid method. As vitamin C and vitamin E are the major contributors to serum total antioxidant activity, the antioxidant status was assessed by 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine method and Baker and Frank method respectively. The serumMDAlevels were found to be increased significantly (p<0.001) while plasma vitamin C and E levels were significantly (p<0.001) reduced as compared to controls. A highly significant positive correlation was found between serum MDA and FBS (p<0.001). A highly significant negative correlation was noted between plasma vitamin C, Vitamin E with FBS (p<0.001). These findings indicate in diabetic neuropathy there is oxidative stress and antioxidant deficiency is inversely related to the glycemic control.We conclude that striving for superior antioxidative therapies remains essential for the prevention of complication like neuropathy in diabetic patients.