Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most frequent chronic diseases worldwide and is characterized by absolute or relative deficiencies in insulin secretion and/or insulin action associated with chronic hyperglycemia.
Objective: This study was conducted with an objective to evaluate oxidative stress in patients of DM and correlate it with glycemic control.
Materials and Methods: A total of 90 subjects of both sex groups, aged between 45–60 years were enrolled for this study. Of 90 subjects, 60 were patients with type 2 diabetes and 30 were healthy without diabetes. Glycemic status was categorized as good glycemic control if glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) <7% and poor glycemic control if HbA1c ≥7%. Serum fasting blood sugar (FBS) was measured by Glucose Oxidase-Peroxidase (GOD-POD) method. Serum malondial- dehyde (MDA) was measured by the method described by Kei Satoh. HbA1c was measured by turbidimetric immunoassay. Result: Patients who were diabetic with poor glycemic control have increase in the levels of MDA and HbA1c as compared with patients who were nondiabetic (p < 0.0001). The MDA level in diabetic patients with good glycemic control was increased as compared with nondiabetic controls (p = 0.0186) whereas the differences of HbA1c level between diabetic with good glycemic control and nondiabetic control were statistically insignificant ( p = 0.3297). The HbA1c and MDA levels in diabetic patients with poor glycemic control were increased compared with diabetic patients with good glycemic control (p < 0.0001). In all the studied groups, MDA was positively correlated with HbA1c. Conclusion: The study suggests that MDA and antioxidants should be measured along with routine parameters of disease and antioxidants should be incorporated in medication given to diabetic patients so that it can counterbalance the oxidative stress produced during diabetes.