Serum oxidant/antioxidant status of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

The levels of malondialdehyde and ceruloplasmin, and superoxide dismutase activity were higher, while transferrin concentration and the activities of glutathione peroxidase and catalase were lower in serum of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (n=24) compared with healthy controls (n=20). Disease activity index correlated positively with serum malondialdehyde level (r=0.47, p<0.05), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r=0.41, p<0.05) and C-reactive protein concentration (r=0.41, p<0.05), while it correlated negatively with serum superoxide dismutase (r=0.42, p<0.05) and glutathione peroxidase (r=-0.44, p<0.05) activities in patients. No such correlations were found in healthy control subjects. It remains to be seen whether correlations found between disease activity score and serum malondialdehyde level, and also activities of serum superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase enzymes observed in the present study may be used to predict prognosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.