Variations in the levels of oxidative stress and antioxidants during early acute pancreatitis.

AIM

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is fatal when severe and oxidative stress (OS) is postulated to play an important role in its pathophysiology and the development of complications. OS and antioxidant status therefore need to be profiled during early AP.

METHODS

Patients presenting to the Gastroenterology wards with early AP i.e. within 72 hours of onset of pain were included in the study. Also samples from 50 healthy controls were obtained for comparison. OS was estimated by levels of blood superoxide dismutase (SOD) and lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances; TBARS) and antioxidant status (AOS) by the ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) and vitamin C at days 1, 3, and 7 of admission.

RESULTS

OS was significantly higher in cases as compared with controls (p<0.001) on all days and showed a gradual decrease from day 1 to 7 (p<0.05). TBARS showed a higher fall in mild AP and better clinical outcome (p<0.003). Regarding the AOS, FRAP was significantly lower in cases (p<0.001) and decreased significantly from day 1 to 3 (p=0.017).

CONCLUSIONS

High OS was observed during early phase of AP and a gradually improving AOS was associated with a better clinical outcome in patients with AP.