ERYTHROCYTE SUPEROXIDE-DISMUTASE ACTIVITY AND PLASMA MALONDIALDEHYDE LEVELS IN CHILDREN WITH SCHONLEIN,HENOCH PURPURA

Reactive oxygen molecules (ROM) have been suggested to contribute to m any pathological conditions including vasculitides and renal diseases. In the present study we measured the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) as an antioxidant enzyme in red blood cells and the level of ma londialdehyde (MDA), which is a product and an indicator of lipid pero xidation, in the plasma of 16 children (7M, 9F) with Henoch Schonlein purpura (HSP) at the onset of the disease (SOD 1 and MDA 1) and at the remission period (SOD 2 and MDA 2). The results were compared with th e results of 17 healthy children studied as a control group. There was no significant difference for SOD activities between the patients in each period and the control group (p > 0.05). There was a statisticall y significant difference between MDA 1 and MDA 2 levels (p < 0.01), ea ch of which were also significantly different from the MDA levels of c ontrol group (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively). The effect of ROM s on different clinical conditions of HSP was also examined and lipid peroxidation was found to be increased more in patients with renal inv olvement It is concluded that oxidant stress especially lipid peroxida tion plays an important role in the pathogenesis of HSP and in develop ment of renal injury.