OBJECTIVE: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2 DM) is a metabolic disorder related to either insulin deficiency or resistance. Glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) is used to monitor long term regulation of blood glucose. Studies relating HbA1c with antioxidant status and lipid profile are very few. Present study was carried out to determine the relation between HbA1c and antioxidant markers along with lipid profile in these patients. METHODOLOGY: Blood samples were collected from healthy controls (n=55) and type 2 DM patients (n=52) and their fasting lipid profile and HbA1c levels were determined using auto analyser. Antioxidant status markers such as serum thiols, ceruloplasmin and GST were measured spectrophotometrically. RESULT: There was significant increase in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (p<0.001), HbA1c (p<0.001), LDL-C (p<0.001) and ceruloplasmin (p<0.001), and there was significant decrease in serum total antioxidant status (p<0.001), total thiols (p<0.001), GST (p<0.001), and HDL-C (p<0.001) in type 2 DM patients compared to healthy controls. HbA1c correlated positively with FPG (r=0.749, p<0.001), LDL-C (r=0.513, p<0.001) and negatively with HDL-C (r=-0.715, p<0.001), total thiols (r=-0.704, p<0.001) and GST (r=-0.426, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Findings in our study support the fact that increased glycation of biomolecules and enhanced generation of free radicals lead to deficient antioxidant status coupled with altered lipid profile may possibly increase the susceptibility to atherogenesis.

Objectives: It is well established that long-term alcohol consumption leads to liver cirrhosis and other related disorders. Sufficient work has been done on biochemical markers of liver damage and antioxidant status of chronic alcoholics in general population. In the current study chronic alcoholics from a community called Koraga are analysed for the same parameters in a view to assess the extent of liver damage as compared to healthy controls and other alcoholics. Methods: Serum and urine samples from Koraga alcoholics (n=28), general alcoholics (n=30) and healthy controls (n=31) were analysed for liver function parameters and antioxidant markers. Liver function parameters were determined by automated analyzer. Markers of antioxidant status were estimated spectrophotometrically. The data was analysed using SPSS version 16.0. Results: There was significant increase in serum AST, serum ALT, serum GST and urine GST in both general and Koraga alcoholics when compared to healthy controls (p<0.0001). Serum ALT, serum GST and urine GST activity was significantly higher in general alcoholics when compared to Koraga alcoholics (p<0.001). Serum and urine total thiol levels were significantly lower in general alcoholics when compared to healthy controls and Koraga alcoholics (p<0.0001). We have observed no difference in total thiols level between healthy controls and Koraga alcoholics, in fact, there was significant increase in urine total thiols level in Koraga alcoholics compared to healthy controls (p<0.001). On Pearson’s correlation serum AST, serum ALT correlated positively with serum and urine GST (p<0.0001) and negatively with serum total thiols (p<0.0001). Serum GST correlated negatively with serum total thiols (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Results of our study possibly indicate that the extent of alcohol induced liver damage in Koraga subjects is comparatively lower than general alcoholics, even though the alcohol consumption is found to be higher in them. There may be some mechanism that is rendering them resistant to alcoholic liver damage which needs to be explored through further studies at molecular level.

Thiols are the organic compounds that contain a sulphydryl group. Among all the antioxidants that are available in the body, thiols constitute the major portion of the total body antioxidants and they play a significant role in defense against reactive oxygen species. Total thiols composed of both intracellular and extracellular thiols either in the free form as oxidized or reduced glutathione, or thiols bound to proteins. Among the thiols that are bound to proteins, albumin makes the major portion of the protein bound thiols, which binds to sufhydryl group at its cysteine-34 portion. Apart from their role in defense against free radicals, thiols share significant role in detoxification, signal transduction, apoptosis and various other functions at molecular level. The thiol status in the body can be assessed easily by determining the serum levels of thiols. Decreased levels of thiols has been noted in various medical disorders including chronic renal failure and other disorders related to kidney, cardiovascular disorders, stroke and other neurological disorders, diabetes mellitus, alcoholic cirrhosis and various other disorders. Therapy using thiols has been under investigation for certain disorders.