Relationship Between Viral Load and Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidant Enzymes in Patients Infected with Hepatitis B Virus
Abstract
Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between viral load and lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
Materials and Methods: We examined 50 patients (26 male, 24 female) with HBV infection who had serological and molecular markers of HBV infection, before any antiviral medication administration. The patients were also separated in to subgroups according to their viral load. Control group were consisted of 40 healthy individuals (20 male, 20 female) who had no HBV infection and antiviral therapy in their medical history. In all patient and control groups, catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in erythrocytes and serum MDA levels were assayed.
Results: Mean SOD, GSH-Px, CAT and MDA levels were 1060.75 U/g Hb, 17.95 U/g Hb, 15.81 kU/g Hb and 0.91 nmol/ml respectively in HBV infected patients; and 1334.54 U/g Hb, 77.12 U/g Hb, 21.31 kU/g Hb, 0.20 nmol/ml in control group. Statistically significant decrease was detected in GSH-PX and CAT activities in HBV infected patients when compared with the control group. SOD activity was also decreased in the patient group, although not statistically significant. In addition, MDA levels of the HBV infected group was statistically significantly increased when compared to the control group. However, when the patient groups were divided according to the viral load, CAT, SOD and GSH-Px activities in erythrocytes and serum MDA levels did not reach any significance. Statistical analysis was performed with Mann Whitney U, t test, chi quare and Kruskal-Wallis tests by using Windows SPSS 10.0 program. P values <0.05 were determined as statistically significant.
Conclusion: In conclusion, our data have demonstrated a significant decrease in some antioxidant enzyme levels and a significant increase in MDA levels, which are markers of lipid peroxidation, in HBV-infected patients, but no correlation between these differences and the viral load has been demonstrated.