SERUM ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY IN HEALTHY AND DIABETIC SUBJECTS AS DETERMINED BY ENHANCED CHEMILUMINESCENCE

Free radicals are considered to be important factors involved in many physiopathological processes. Several methods have been proposed for s tudying the mechanisms of antioxidant protection against free radical- induced injury, including the measurement of the total antioxidant cap acity (TAC) in body fluids, based on enhanced chemiluminescence. This technique is calibrated against Trolox(TM) and assay results are expre ssed as mu mol/L of Trolox equivalents. Since many of the complication s induced by diabetes appear to be mediated by oxygen free radical gen eration, we have investigated serum antioxidant capacity in a group of healthy subjects and in insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) subjects. A statistically significant difference was noticed in TAC values betwee n the IDDM group and the young control group. Even if the biological m eaning of this significant reduction in TAC remains to be explained, a n overproduction of precursors of reactive oxygen free radicals and/or a decreased scavenger systems efficiency can be associated with the i ncreased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in diabetic pa tients. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.