Plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and anti-oxidant status in diabetic retinopathy

Hyperglycaemia and dyslipidaemia in diabetes mellitus induce increased lipid peroxidation and peroxyl radical formation is an important mechanism in genesis of micro-angiopathy. We took up a study on oxidative stress as measured by lipid peroxidation marker, malondialdehyde (MDA) and antioxidant enzyme status in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with and without retinopathy and compared them with a control non-diabetic group. MDA was significantly elevated (p < 0.001) in both the diabetic groups whereas antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), catalase (CAT) and reduced glutathione (GSH), etc, were significantly decreased (p < 0.001) which might be helpful in risk assessment of various complications of diabetes mellitus. The study included 100 subjects of age group 50-70 years, out of which 50 patients were non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) with retinopathy and rest 50 age and sex matched apparently healthy individuals (control group). The status of fasting blood sugar (FBS), postprandial blood sugar (PPBS), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (Tg), HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, VLDL- cholesterol, GPx, GR, CAT, SOD, MDA were determined. The results showed significant increase (p < 0.001) in FBS, PPBS, TC, TG, LDL-C, VLDL-C, CAT, MDA while HDL-C, GSH, GPx, GR and SOD were found to be decreased significantly (p < 0.001). The data suggest that alteration in anti-oxidant status and MDA may help to predict the risk of diabetic retinopathy.