Oxidative stress in smokers and non-smokers healthy subjects

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of cigarette smoking on serum oxidative damage , antioxidant status in healthy subjects . Subjects were randomly chosen from Baquba community. Smoker( n=86) was defined as a person who had smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day continually for at least one year(1) , while non-smoker(n=39) was a person who had no previous smoking experience . The results show that the serum MDA levels were significantly higher ( p<0.05) in smokers compared with non smokers and lower significantly(p<0.01) serum glutathione , superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were in smokers than in non smokers. Thus increase levels of serum MDA and decreased antioxidant activities may be important in determining the oxidant / antioxidant imbalance in smokers