Effect of Lifestyle Factors on Serum Antioxidant Levels in Apparently Health Individuals

INTRODUCTION : Multifactor influence including lifestyle factors on health status results in initiation of disease pathology of non communicable diseases (NCD) like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cancer etc in a very young age. This phase remains undetected due to the “apparently” healthy status seen in young age. Reactive oxygen species initiate the pathogenesis in NCD; hence serum antioxidant levels may detect the initiated internal metabolism changes. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES : The purpose of this study is to determine whether serum antioxidants can act as biomarker to determine the internal changes initiated by lifestyle choices of the study population of apparently healthy individuals in South India. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY : 104 Healthy volunteers of age 20-30 years from Karpaga Vinayaga Institute of medical sciences, Maduranthagam were randomly selected, based on their cut off values of FSG 12 g/dl for females and >14g/dl for males and with no significant medical illness that can cause oxidative stress were selected to participate in this study. Lifestyle factors like age, gender, diet, socioeconomic condition, physical activity, psychological stress, smoking, alcohol, BMI were evaluated based on internationally pre-validated questionnaires. Then fasting venous samples collected for estimation of Superoxide dismutase (SOD)-Spectrophotometric method Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) -Spectrophotometric method Coenzyme Q10 – single dilution method HPLC Uric acid-Uricase / POD method. RESULTS : Age (25.30±3.214) BMI (22.5±4.65) Superoxide dismutase (U/mL) (181.78±17.9) Glutathione peroxidase (U/L) (8607.36±1237.2) Coenzyme Q10 (μg/L) (484.12±59.65) Uric acid (mG/dL) (4.92±1.27). SOD had a positive relationship with increased dietary intake of fruits and vegetables (p<0.01). It also increased with increased smoking with level of significance being < 0.05. It showed a negative relationship with age (p<0.05), socio-economic score (p<0.05), psychological stress (p<0.01), BMI (p<0.05). GPx had a positive correlation with age and alcohol (p<0.01), whereas it had a negative correlation with physical activity and smoking (p<0.01). CoQ10 had a significant positive association with smoking and dietary intake of fruits and vegetables (p<0.01), and an inverse relationship with socioeconomic class and BMI (p<0.01). The serum uric acid values were positively correlated with age (p<0.01), alcohol consumption (p<0.01), and BMI (p<0.01). And it had a negative relationship with socioeconomic class (p<0.01), physical activity (p<0.01), and smoking (p