Plasmatic total antioxidant status (tas) is decreased In andalusian obese adolescents

Introduction

Obesity is a major public health problem not only in adulthood but also at early life stages. It is also generally accepted obesity is strongly associated to cardiovascular disease. In this line oxidative stress is considered to play a key role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. However little information is available regarding the association of obesity and oxidative damage at early lisfe stages. Consequently, the present study was undertaken to compare total antoxidant status in obese and non-obese male adolescents from Andalusia.

Methods:

Two hundred seventy male adolescents (age 17.2±0.6) volunteered for this study. Two hundred fourty of them were obese (BMI=33.8±2.9 kg/m2; BF=36.2±4.6%) and were randomly selected from. Control group included 30 age and sex-matched adolescents (BMI=22.1±1.8 kg/m2; BF=25.7±4.2%). No one of them reported neither toxic habits (smoking or alcohol) nor antioxidant consumption. Plasmatic total antioxidant status (TAS) was determined spectrophotometrically by commercial kits supplied by Randox. Fat mass percentage was determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Written informed consent was obtained from all their parents. Further our protocol was approved by an institutional ethic committee.

Results:

When compared to controls, plasmatic total antioxidant status was lower in obese adolescents (0.62±0.1 vs. 0.44±0.08 mmol/l TAS; p<0.05).

Conclusion:

Antioxidant defense system in obese adolescents was decreased when compared to non-obese controls. Further studies on this topic are highly required.