Plasma catalase, glutathione-s-transferase and total antioxidant activity levels of children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

Objective: In this study, we plan to measure plasma Catalase (CAT), Antioxidant Activity (AOA) and Glu-tathione-S-Transferase (GST) levels to understand whether oxidative stress develops or not and whether or not the detoxification mechanism properly func-tions in children with Attention Deficit and Hyperac-tivity Disorder (ADHD) with unknown etiology and pathogenesis. Method and Results: Plasma CAT, AOA, and GST activities were spectrophotometrically meas-ured in forty patients (average age 10.27 ± 2.54) and thirty-five (average age, 9.97 ± 2.59) healthy indi-viduals as the control group. While the CAT activity showed no difference in the patient group (P > 0.05) compared to the control group, AOA and GST levels were found significantly meaningful (P = 0.001). Con-clusion: In this pilot study, the study shows that no oxidative stress develops in individuals with ADHD in high AOA and stable CAT activity, and that the de-toxification mechanism functions extremely in high GST activity. These findings need to be supported by other studies.