Does the antioxidant level increase after the treatment of exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease every time?

Background and goals

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been increasingly recognized as a systemic disease. The hormonal, metabolic and musculoskeletal implications of the generalized processes involving oxidative stress, inflammatory mediators, cytokines, and endocrine hormones have only begun to be understood. The aim of this study was to assess of changes in oxidant stress during the treatment of exacerbation of COPD.

Materials and methods

We measured erythrocyte (E) and plasma (P) glutathione peroxidase (GPx), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) on the pretreatment period and the post-treatment period in 20 patients with acute exacerbation of COPD. Twenty healthy smokers and 20 nonsmokers having no history of lung disease served as control subjects.

Results

Data are presented in Tables 1 and 2.

Table 1

Table 2

Conclusions

Our results were not consistent with early reports about the same topic. We thought that treatment does not increase the antioxidant level every time, although the clinical improvement is achieved. Therefore, our results suggest that, considering an increase in antioxidant capacity shows tissue improvement, GPx, SOD and MDA levels can be used as a marker of prognosis and of the success of treatment of the exacerbation of COPD.