OXIDATIVE STRESS LEVEL IN FEMALES WITH HEART DISEASES USING VITAMIN A, C AND E AS DETERMINANTS
ABSTRACT
Heart disease is associated with elevated oxidative stress via increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and decline in antioxidant defences. Increased oxidative stress is thought to play a role in the development of cardiovascular diseases. The present study was carried out to see the levels of vitamin C, vitamin E and total antioxidant (AO) in hypertensive female patients with heart disease. Twenty-two patients (all women) with history of Hypertension from outpatient clinic unit of the State Central Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria where studied. Eight control subjects (all women) with no history of hypertension and heart diseases were studied. The raw group data of their age, weight, height, blood pressure and pulse rate of the subjects were obtained. They were selected on the basis of general physical examination Serum level of vitamin A, C and E were obtained using documented method. Serum levels of vitamin A,C, and E were 380.24±68.13 U/L and 135.69±21.32 U/L, 1.23±0.13 mg/dl and 1.20±0.09 mg/dl, 136.26±9.72 U/L and 185.41±1.84 U/L in experimental and control. Vitamin A shows significant increase with experimental when compared with control, but Vitamin C shows mild increase when experimental group was compared with control group, but did not attain significant at (p<0.05) and Vitamin E shows moderate significant decrease when experiment group compared with control group at (p<0.05). This study reveals a significant reduction in serum vitamin E level of hypertensive patients as compared to the controls with the mean vitamin C level showing no significant difference. In this research, the scientific data do not justify the use of antioxidant vitamin supplements for CVD risk reduction.
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTIONÂ Heart disease(cardiovascular disease), defined as coronary artery disease, hypertensive heart disease, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, and atherosclerosis including cerebral artery disease and strokes, is the leading cause of death in the United States and disability in the world today, (Thom, 1989). In the United States, the heart disease death toll is nearly one million each year, and in 2002 the estimated cost of heart disease treatment was $326.6 billion, (Shekelle et al., 2003).
