Antioxidant Enzymes in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is due to tissue injury in the area caused by inflammatory reactions, release of MMPs and free radicals produced by neutrophils and macrophages. The control of free radical production may have therapeutic roles thus the study was done to check the status of lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) and a few antioxidant enzymes in RA patients. 45 RA patients and 40 controls were selected. Controls were asymptomatic and RA patients were selected according to ACR criteria. RA patients had significantly high MDA, SOD and ALP and reduced activity of catalase and GR as compared to controls. SOD showed positive correlation with ALP. GR was positively related with MDA, SOD and ALP. The study shows that MDA is involved in the pathogenesis of RA. The system is trying to quench free radicals by high SOD activity. Higher production of H2O2 or some other mechanism is responsible for inhibition of catalase and GR. However system is trying to reduce the damage by neutralizing superoxide anion. Therapeutic intervention of the oxidative stress may be considered for effective control of inflammation in RA patients.