Abstract

ABSTRACT
Objective: To estimate the oxidative stress status in patients with different parasitic infections.
Methods: A total of 230 blood samples obtained from individuals aged 1-65 years during the first 9 months of 2007
in Basrah, Iraq were used. One hundred samples collected from patients with parasitic infections (35 patients with
toxoplasmosis, 32 patients with leishmaniasis, 24 patients with amoebiasis and 9 patients with giardiasis) while the
rest 130 were apparently healthy subjects and considered as a control group. The oxidative stress status was
determined by measuring serum malondialdehyde (MDA) level as indicator of lipid peroxidation, erythrocytes
superoxide dismutase (SOD) as indicator of endogenous antioxidant enzymes level and zinc level as cofactor for
antioxidants enzymes.
Results: Serum MDA level for patients group was (1.02+0.26 μmol/L) which was significantly higher than that in
the control group (0.83±0.12 μmol/L) ((P<0.001). Serum MDA levels were increased significantly with increasing
age (P<0.001). The levels of erythrocytes SOD were significantly lower (P<0.001) in patients than in control subjects
and its level is decreasing with increasing age. There were significant negative correlation between serum MDA and
erythrocytes SOD level among studied groups. Serum zinc level was decreased significantly in patients group
(84.95±13.31μg/dl) when compared to healthy subjects (94.48±6.6μg/dl) (P<0.001).
Conclusion: The parasitic infections are associated with significant degree of free radicals formation as indicated by
significantly higher MDA and lower SOD levels among those patients.