Oxidative Imbalance and Non-Enzymic Antioxidant Status in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Infected Subjects: Carcinogenic Potential

Abstract

Oxidative imbalance and non-enzymic antioxidant status in plasma of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Nigeria were investigated. Forty HIV/AIDS seronegative pulmonary tuberculosis patients with the active infection (24 males, 16 females) aged 20-60 years diagnosed by Ziehl Neelson staining/demonstration of mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum and sputum culture Lowenstein Jensen medium visiting Federal Medical Centre, Owerri were selected for the study. Sixty normal subjects free from pulmonary tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS (30 males and 30 females) ages 20-60 years were also used as control. Patients with complication such as renal diseases, viral and other bacterial infections, etc. were excluded from the study. In the analysis of the results using Duncan multiple range test, pulmonary tuberculosis infected subjects presented significantly higher mean values of plasma lipid peroxide (p<0.05) when compared with control. Also the levels of non-enzymic antioxidants such as Vitamin C, vitamin E and reduced glutathione in plasma were significantly depleted in the pulmonary tuberculosis infected subjects (p<0.05) when compared with control. This shows that pulmonary tuberculosis could probably be associated with excess ROS production.