Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Levels in Diabetes Mellitus Patients

High glucose level in diabetic mellitus can lead to free radical production causing oxidative stress. The present study has been undertaken to study the oxidative stress by measuring the antioxidant levels in diabetes mellitus patients. The level of malondialdehyde (MDA), ischemia modified albumin (IMA), ascorbic acid and vitamin E concentration in serum of normal and diabetic subjects of Chhattisgarh has been studied. A total of 125 diabetic and normal healthy subjects both male and female ranging in the age group 30-65 years were included in this study. The concentration of vitamin E, MDA, IMA and ascorbate in the serum of diabetic subjects was quantitatively determined and compared with that of normal control subjects. Student’s t test was used to evaluate the significant of differences between the parameters measured. The concentration of MDA and IMA increased significantly in diabetic patients as compared to normal control subjects. The ascorbate content of diabetic subjects significantly declined as compared to that of control subjects. Also, the level of the vitamin E declined about 40-50% in diabetic subjects of both the sexes compared to control subjects. The increased level of oxidative stress biomarkers such as MDA and IMA in diabetic patients accompanied with decreased level of non enzymatic antioxidants such ascorbic acid and vitamin E as observed in the present work could cause complications in patients leading to oxidative damage to proteins, lipid and nucleic acids.