BUFFALO, N.Y. -- High levels of toxic free radicals in the blood can literally take one's breath away.
Epidemiologists at the University at Buffalo have found that a miniscule increase above an acceptable threshold of a substance in the blood that indicates cell damage caused by bombardment from free oxygen molecules (a condition defined as oxidative stress) reflects damage to the lungs equivalent to the effect of 3-5 years of aging, or of approximately 15-20 pack years of smoking.
"It is well known that oxidative stress plays a role in atherosclerosis, cancer and other chronic conditions," said Holger Schunemann, M.D., UB research assistant professor and lead author on the study. "But information on the relation of blood levels of oxidants and antioxidants with lung function is sparce. Our results suggest that free-radical damage also is associated with narrowing of the pulmonary airways."
The study is one of the first investigations of the relationship between lung function, oxidative stress caused by free oxygen molecules, also known as free radicals, and blood levels of antioxidants, substances that can help prevent free-radical damage.
The study is published in the Dec. 2 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, which is dedicated to research by faculty members and graduates of the UB Department of Social and Preventive Medicine.
The study involved 132 non-smoking subjects between the ages of 37 and 73 years, selected randomly from two counties in Western New York. Researchers assessed lung function by measuring the volume of air participants could force from their lungs during a one-second exhale.
They also collected blood samples from all participants, and measured levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, or TBARS, a marker of oxidative stress, and levels of several compounds thought to protect against oxidative stress: red-cell glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, trolox equivalen
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Contact: Lois Baker
baker@newsb.buffalo.edu
716-645-2626
University at Buffalo
2-Dec-1997