title: Antioxidant defense and oxidative stress in children with acute hepatitis A.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Published data on oxidative stress in children with acute hepatitis A are still very scarce. This study aims to evaluate the oxidant/antioxidant status of these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, case-control study, over 2.5 years in patients under hospitalized and ambulatory care.
  
  
  METHODS
  The levels of a whole-blood antioxidant, reduced glutathione; and plasma antioxidants, β-carotene, retinol, ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol; and the biomarker of oxidative stress, malondialdehyde, were evaluated in 50 pediatric patients (age range, 5-16 years; 29 males and 21 females) with acute hepatitis A and in 50 healthy children as control subjects (age range, 5-16 years; 25 males and 25 females).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma levels of reduced glutathione, β-carotene, retinol, α-tocopherol and ascorbic acid were significantly lower, while malondialdehyde plasma levels were significantly increased in the patient group when compared to the controls (P<.0001 for all parameters).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings show that pediatric patients with acute hepatitis A were influenced by oxidative stress, resulting in significantly lower levels of plasma antioxidants and increased lipid peroxidation. In the absence of other therapeutic options, antioxidant vitamin supplements could be added to the therapy for these patients to help reestablish the oxidant status balance. Further investigations to confirm this suggestion are recommended.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Clinic, University Clinical Centre, Nis, Serbia. lidija_popovic2003@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Lidija
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Popovic-Dragonjic
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jovanovic
authors.forename: Miodrag
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vrbic
authors.forename: Ljiljana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Konstantinovic
authors.forename: Velimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kostic
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dragonjic
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants