Introduction. Pregnancy is a physiological state which causes the increased redox imbalance in utero. During labour, the production of damaging free radicals exceeds the body’s antioxidant defense mechanism resulting in oxidative stress. In case of uncomplicated term pregnancy, a vaginal delivery has been proved to be more stressful condition than caesarean section. Hence it was proposed to estimate the degree of oxidative stress as well as antioxidant status during delivery by a caesarean section.

Material and Methods. Uncomplicated term pregnant women (n=20) who delivered by caesarean sections along with healthy parous of nonpregnant age matching a control group (n=13) were included in the study. Plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) for lipid peroxidation (LPO) and other antioxidant enzymes such as Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) and total reduced Glutathione (GSH) were estimated in plasma and hemolysate respectively using the spectrophotometric method. Results were analysed by Student ‘t’ test taking p<0.05 as statistically significant.

Results. Plasma LPO increased significantly in a caesarean section as compared to the control group (p<0.05). Similar findings were observed for both GSH and SOD levels (P<0.001, P<0.01). But GPx did not show any statistical significance. But a significant positive correlation was obtained between GPx before delivery and maternal age (r= 0.597, P<0.01).

Conclusion. Pregnancy results in oxidative stress which is further aggravated during delivery by a caesarean section to produce alterations in the maternal antioxidant system. Further research is required in this field to understand the basic mechanism of underlying it.

Article recieved: 06.12.2017

Ключові слова: free radicals, oxidative stress, lower segment caesarean section, maternal antioxidant defence

Повний текст: PDF (Eng)

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