Effect of sulfur dioxide inhalation on erythrocyte antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation in experimental diabetes

The effect of sulfur dioxide (SO2) on red cell antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation was examined in this research. Forty healthy male albino rats , aged three months, were divided into four equal groups: Control (C), SO2C (CSO2), diabetic (D) and SO2+D (DSO2). Experimental diabetes mellitus was induced by i.v injection of alloxan with a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight. T en ppm SO2 was administered to the animals of SO2 exposed groups in an expo sure chamber for one hr/day x 7 days/wk x 6wks while other groups were expo sed to filtered air in the same condition. SO2 exposure, while markedly dec reasing Cu, Zn-Superoxide dismutase (Cu, Zn-SOD) activity, significantly in creased glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH) and glutathione-s-transferase (GST) activities and TEARS values in CSO2 and DSO2 groups compared with their respective control groups. From these resu lts, it could be concluded that adaptative changes occurred in antioxidant systems that may counteract the free radical effect of SO2 in the experimen tal groups.