Antioxidant gap and lipid peroxidation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: Relationship to disease manifestations and activity

ObjectiveTo explore relationships between total antioxidant gap and lipid peroxidation with respect to the disease severity of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which may have further implications in understanding rheumatoid pathology and therapeutic management of the disease.MethodThe present of study was designed to investigate the relationship between antioxidant gap and certain antioxidant parameters with disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis patients. A significantly increased lipid peroxidation, measured as malondialdehyde (MDA), was demonstrated in the plasma of rheumatoid arthritis patients.ResultsMDA was observed in RA patients (0.98±0.34 μmol/L) than those found in controls (0.98±0.34 μmol/L). The antioxidant gap was significantly decreased. total antioxidant gap (0.34±0.14 mmol/L) and total antioxidant capacity (1.34±0.16 mmol/L) were significantly lower in RA patients as compared to healthy controls (0.76±0.33 and 1.78±0.35 mmol/Lrespectivel).DiscussionThe excessive production of ROS disturbs redox status including antioxidant gap and can exacerbating inflammation and affecting tissue damage in RA, as exemplified by their strong association with disease activity.