title: The relationship between potency of oxidative stress and severity of dilated cardiomyopathy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It has been suggested that oxidative stress may have a role in the etiopathogenesis of congestive heart failure.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate and compare the oxidative-antioxidative status and oxidative stress index (OSI) of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) with those of healthy volunteers, and to determine the relationship between total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and ejection fraction (EF).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight patients with IDC and 24 control subjects were enrolled in the study. Antioxidative status was evaluated by measuring the TAC and the vitamin C and thiol levels in the plasma. Oxidative status was evaluated by measuring the total peroxide level. The per cent ratio of TAC to total peroxide level was accepted as the OSI. EF was measured using Simpson's method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  TAC and vitamin C and thiol levels of plasma were found to be significantly lower in patients with IDC than in control subjects (P < 0.001). In contrast, total peroxide levels and OSIs were significantly higher in patients with IDC than in control subjects (P = 0.002 and P = 0.002, respectively). An important positive correlation was found between TAC and EF (r = 0.772; P < 0.001). On the other hand, significant negative correlations were found between EF and OSI and between EF and total peroxide levels in patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oxidants are increased and antioxidants are decreased in patients with IDC; as a result, the oxidative-antioxidative balance is shifted to the oxidative side. There is a significant correlation between the potency of oxidative stress and the severity of IDC. It is believed that supplementation of antioxidants in the treatment of IDC may be helpful to these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey. rdemirbag@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Recep
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Demirbag
authors.forename: Remzi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Ozcan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Erel
authors.forename: Unal
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gultekin
authors.forename: Durmus
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Asci
authors.forename: Zafer
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Elbasan
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism*; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006334:Heart Function Tests; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants