Relationship of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase, serum lipid peroxides and age.

Serum Lipid peroxides (LP) were measured as an index of free radical mediated lipid peroxidation in sixty normal healthy individuals. Erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was also measured simultaneously in the subjects. The serum LP levels were found to be increased progressively with age, while erythrocyte SOD was, in contrast, found to be decreased with age. There was excellent positive correlation between serum LP and age (r = 0.959) while the erythrocyte SOD was inversely correlated with age (r = -0.845). The serum LP and erythrocyte SOD have also shown some inverse relationship (r = -0.8395). The result indicate that the balance between antioxidant & pro-oxidant factors in free radical metabolism shifts towards increased lipid peroxidation with advancing age.