[Serum total antioxidative capacity in patients with essential hypertension]

Development of vascular changes in the course of essential hypertension (EH) is associated with, among others, the decrease of the organism antioxidative barrier. The aim of the study was to assess serum total antioxidative capacity (TAC) in patients with EH.

Investigations were performed in 109 subjects allotted into 4 groups: I--31 patients with EH with no complications; II--33 patients with EH with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH); III--33 patients with EH and ischaemic heart disease with or without LVH, and IV--12 healthy subjects. Age and sex of the investigated subjects were similar. TAC assessment was carried out with colorimetric method based on the reduction of cation-radical ABTS. Statistically significant decrease of TAC was observed in all the investigated groups of patients with EH as compared to the healthy subjects. The lowest TAC values were found in group I (statistically significant differences as compared to group II and III), whereas TAC values did not differ significantly between groups II and III. The highest observed TAC decrease in patients with EH with no complications suggest that intensified adrenergic stimulation in the initial stage of EH plays an important role in the development of oxidative stress.