Low antioxidant status of patients with central nervous system infections

Abstract

Low antioxidant status of patients with central nervous system infections. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2016;3:262-7. Aim: The pathogenesis of central nervous system infections (CNSI) has not been fully understood; some studies indicated that reactive oxygen species may induce brain damage. The aim of our study was to investigate serum antioxidant status in patients with CNSI. Methods: The serum levels of uric acid (UA), bilirubin and albumin of 548 individuals were enrolled in our study, comprising of 114 healthy controls (HC) and 434 patients with five different kinds of CNSI, which including viral meningitis and/or meningoencephalitis, cysticercosis of brain, tuberculous meningitis and/or meningoencephalitis, cryptococcus meningitis and/or meningoencephalitis, and bacterial meningitis and/or meningoencephalitis. Results: The data suggested that there were reducing levels of oxidation state (serum UA, bilirubin and albumin) in CNSI patients when compared with HC. Likewise, similar results were observed when cohorts were divided into male and female subgroups. Conclusion: The authors demonstrated that serum antioxidant status in patients with CNSI was lower; the reason may be due to exhaustion of antioxidant capacity. Therefore, enhancing antioxidant power and keeping oxidative stress and antioxidants in balance may be beneficial to the patients with CNSI. ABSTRACT Article history: