[Parameters of oxidative stress in patients with cardiopathies]

Routine biochemical parameters in the blood of patients with chronic cardiopathies are nonspecific and of no reliable diagnostic value.

Since marked changes of some biochemical blood parameters concerning the oxidative metabolism of the organism were observed in patients with acute myocardial diseases, the aim of this study was to estimate some antioxidant enzyme activities and metabolites in the blood of patients with cardiopathies-diseases with chronic heart failure of unknown origin.

In 21 hospitalized patients with cardiopathy the venous blood samples were analyzed for plasma levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) as representatives of lipid peroxidation, levels of selenium and zinc as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and reduced glutathione (GSH) level in erythrocytes.

Comparing the group of 25 clinically healthy individuals some marked changes in enzyme activities and metabolite levels were found in patients with cardiopathy: a significant increase of plasma TBARS and-on the other hand-markedly decreased activities of SOD and GPX and of GSH level in erythrocytes. Also a decreased plasma selenium level was observed in patients.

A marked decrease of antioxidant enzyme activities and GSH levels suggest a possible drop in total antioxidant status of patients with cardiopathy. Raised TBARS plasma levels might be regarded as a decreased ability of organism to abolish the produced free reactive oxygen forms leading thus to rise in lipoprotein rare.