No abstract

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is one of the most common chronic diseases and a major cause of morbility and mortality. An imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants (oxidative stress) has been proposed as a critical event in the pathogenesis of COPD. The increased oxidative stress in patients with COPD is the result of exogenous oxidants namely pollutants and cigarette smoke as well as endogenous oxidant production during inflammation. The aim of the present study was to clarify the hypothesis about the presence of an imbalance between oxidants and the antioxidant defences associated to COPD. In this study, we evaluated a biomarker of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde, a lipid peroxidation derived product) and non-enzymatic antioxidants (vitamin C and the sulphydryl groups) in COPD patients and healthy controls. The marker of oxidative stress was found to be significantly (p<0,001) higher in COPD patients when compared with the control group. No age dependent changes in the plasma levels of lipid peroxidation products were found. COPD patients had a significant (p<0,001) decrease in antioxidant status compared with control group. Our results show that oxidative stress is an important pathophysiologic change in COPD.

No abstract

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is characterized by a complex range of pathological changes including both pulmonary and systemic effects. Several mechanisms contribute to the variable intermediate and clinically relevant disease phenotypes, such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and systemic disease. The molecular mechanisms associated to the pathogenesis of COPD are not yet clearly understood.Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate oxidant/antioxidant balance and the systemic infl ammation in chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema COPD patients. Methods:We analyzed COPD patients divided in 2 groups: chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Healthy volunteers without lung disease were used as control group. Results:We observed a signifi cant (P<0,05) increase in the levels of plasma malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker of oxidative stress, an increase in the circulating C-reactive protein (CRP), used as a biomarker of systemic infl ammation, and a decrease in antioxidant defense in COPD patients with emphysema when compared with COPD patients with chronic bronchitis.Conclusion: Althought our results should be regarded as preliminary they indicate a disturbance in oxidant/antioxidant status and systemic infl ammatory response associated to COPD patients. The differences observed were more evident in emphysematous phenotype.