Allergy to drugs: Antioxidant enzymic activities, lipid peroxidation and protein oxidative damage in human blood

Reactive oxygen species lead to lipid peroxidation and specific oxidation o f some specific enzymes, proteins and other macromolecules, thus affecting many intra- and intercellular systems. Recently, antioxidant functions have been linked to anti-inflammatory properties. Cell defences against toxic o xygen include antioxidant enzymes. We studied the enzymic antioxidant capac ity in human blood of both erythrocytes and mononuclear cells from patients suffering from an allergic reaction to different drugs. We determined supe roxide dismutases (SODs), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) and catalase (CAT) activities in each cell type. We also determined the extent of thiobarbitu ric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and the oxidative damage to proteins, in order to study the correlation between the cellular enzymic activities, the oxidative status and the allergic reaction. In mononuclear cells from a llergic patients, SODs and CAT activities were enhanced compared with contr ols. Conversely, a decrease in GSHPx activity was found. In erythrocytes, h igher values for CAT, GSHPx and SODs activities were found in allergic pati ents. TBARS were also enhanced in both types of cells, and the carbonyl con tent of serum was equally increased. The respective enzymic imbalances in m ononuclear cells and erythrocytes, namely, GSHPx/SOD and CAT/SOD, and their consequences are discussed. To our knowledge, this is the first global stu dy of antioxidant enzyme determinations, including TBARS level and carbonyl content, in patients suffering from allergies to drugs. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.