ABSTRACT
In India, a large group of people with hypertension age between 40-60 years. We aimed at assessing the relationship between essential hypertension and oxidative stress in this age group. The plasma levels of Malondialdehyde, Catalase and erythrocyte Superoxide dismutase were determined in 210 patients with essential hypertension and 149 healthy control subjects, using standard procedures. Levels of malondialdehyde and oxidant/antioxidant ratio was significantly higher in patients compared to controls. The same increased with age (>50/<50 years) in patients, but not in controls. The increase in oxidative stress might be contributed by decline in the levels of Superoxide dismutase and Catalase activity in patients. This study, first of its kind, from India suggested that higher level of oxidative stress is prevalent in patients with essential hypertension even at age group below 60. The study also suggests that people who do not develop hypertension upto 60 years of age have been safe because they constitutively possessed more effective mechanisms to keep the levels of oxidative stress at a lower level with increasing age. Thus oxidative stress is a key risk factor for hypertension irrespective of age.
Key words: Antioxidant status, Catalase, Essential hypertension, Malondialdehyde, Oxidative stress, Reactive oxygen species, Superoxide dismutase.