It has been suggested that lung function can be altered by both free r
adical and oxidant exposure, while antioxidant vitamin intake is posit
ively related to lung function. However, the information on the relati
on of blood levels of oxidants and antioxidants to lung function is sp
arse, The present cross-sectional study, conducted from September 1995
to May 1996, analyzes the association between lung function measured
as forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) with 1) levels of thiob
arbituric acid-reactive substances in plasma (p-TBARS) and in low and
very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL cholesterol/VLDL cholest
erol-TBARS) as indicators of lipid peroxidation and 2) compounds with
antioxidant activity, erythrocytic glutathione, plasma glutathione per
oxidase, trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, and serum bilirubin,
which may protect against lipid peroxidation. The analysis was carried
out in 132 nonsmoking subjects aged 37-73 years who were randomly sel
ected from the residents of Erie and Niagara counties, New York. FEV1
in percent of the predicted value (FEV1%) was negatively and statistic
al significantly associated with p-TBARS (r = 0.19), A negative associ
ation with borderline statistical significance was observed between FE
V1% with low density lipoprotein cholesterol/very low density lipoprot
ein cholesterol-TBARS (r = -0.16) and glutathione (r = -0.16), while F
EV1% was positively related to serum bilirubin (r = 0.15), Participant
s in the lowest quartile of FEV1% showed significantly higher levels o
f p-TBARS (p = 0.02) and lower levels of bilirubin (p = 0.04) than did
those in the highest quartile, Our results suggest that increased lip
id peroxidation is associated with pulmonary airway narrowing in the g
eneral population.