Increased lipid peroxidation in children with autoimmune diseases.

To examine the role of oxidative damage in children and adolescents with autoimmune diseases, we compared blood serum levels of the lipid peroxidation (LPO) products 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in 22 children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 13 children with focal type of scleroderma, and 21 health controls. In order to study the influence of disease activity in SLE on serum LPO product levels, the SLE group was divided into one group with active disease (n = 11) and one group with non-active disease (n = 11) according to SLEDAI-score, 15.1 and 1.8, respectively. SLE patients with active SLE (146 +/- 14 nmol/l, median 145 nmol/l) have significantly higher HNE levels compared to controls (61 +/- 10 nmol/l, median 52 nmol/l), whereas the MDA serum levels are similar to those of the control group, 1.94 +/- 0.18 mumol/l (median: 2.02 mumol/l) and 1.58 +/- 0.11 mumol/l (median: 1.52 mumol/l), respectively. Children with SCL had HNE and MDA levels similar to the control group.