Introduction: The aim of our study was to estimate plasma antioxidant activity as well as plasma nitric oxide (NO) and vascular endothelial growth factor levels in patients with metabolic syndrome compared with healthy participants.
Material and methods: Fifty patients (24 women and 26 men, mean age 55.9 + 11.8 years) with metabolic syndrome were compared with 25 healthy participants (12 women and 13 men, mean age 54.2 + 12.8 years). Plasma total antioxidant activity and plasma levels of NO and VEGF were determined in all participants.
Results: In the patients with metabolic syndrome, plasma total antioxidant activity, nitric oxide, and vascular endothelial growth factor were significantly lower (P < .001) than that observed in healthy participants (3.2 + 1.6 vs 6.4 + 2.1 mM/L), (6.3 + 2.2 vs 9.8 + 2.7 muM/L), and 71.0 + 16.9 vs 137.5 + 12.6 pg/mL), respectively.
Conclusions: Decreased plasma total antioxidant activity, NO, and VEGF levels in patients with metabolic syndrome reflect significant endothelial dysfunction. This suggests that oxidation-reduction balance disorders might play an important role in this process.