Study of Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) Activity Among Betel Quid Chewers of Indian Population

Introduction: Betel quid (BQ) chewing, a habit practiced in Eastern and North Eastern part of India, has known to be associated with cancer of the oral or buccal cavity. BQ is also one of the common mood elevating substances among Indian population. The BQ is a mixture of areca nut (Areca catechu), catechu (Acacia catechu) and slaked lime (calcium oxide and calcium hydroxide) wrapped in a betel leaf (Piper betel). BQ products have been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as group I human carcinogens . Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), one of the major enzymatic antioxidant defence system, responsible for scavenging free radicals. Antioxidant enzymes catalyse decomposition of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Overall balance between production and removal of ROS may be more important in various cancers including OSCC (Oral squamous cell carcinoma) or oral cancer. Methods: In this study subjects were screened from Department of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery &E.N.T. of Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan Hospital (RKMSP), Kolkata and different areas of West Bengal and North Eastern states of India. Quantitative in vitro determination of superoxide dismutase activities in whole blood were estimated manually with 0.05 ml whole blood. The samples were assayed by UV-Visible Spectrophotometer (SPECORD 50 PLUS) at a wavelength of 420 nm. Results: Most of the subjects had betel quid chewing habit. Superoxide dismutase values are lower in healthy control than Cancer cases and Pre cancer with betel quid chewing habit, which is statistically significant. Conclusion: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated due to slaked lime, one of the important constituents of betel quid which can modulate the oral pathology and promote carcinogenesis.