Role of Oxidative Stress on Malarial Anaemia: Significance of Oxidative Stress Index in Patients with Malarial Infection

Introduction: An alteration of oxidant and antioxidant levels is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of malaria. Limited data is found on association between oxidant and antioxidant status and significance of oxidative stress index in patients with malarial infection and anaemia in south Indian population. Aim: To measure the levels of oxidants and antioxidants and oxidative stress index in patients with malaria and their association with anaemia. Materials and Methods: The present case-control study was conducted in Department of Biochemistry, Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad, India. A total of 50 subjects of malaria aged 20-45 years were included as cases based on inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. Control group comprised of 50 healthy age and gender matched subjects. Haemoglobin (Hb), serum Malondialdehyde (MDA), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) was estimated in both the groups by standard methods using Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer. Independent sample t-test was used to test for the difference in all biochemical parameters among study and control groups. The study of orrelation among the parameters was done by Pearson’s correlation. Results: Both the groups were age and gender matched (p=0.39). MDA was significantly elevated in cases as compared to controls (p<0.0001). SOD, Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma (FRAP), Hb were significantly lower in cases as compared to controls with p-value <0.0001. In the present study, it was found that there was a significant negative correlation between Hb and oxidative stress index (MDA/FRAP=-0.480) with p-value=0.0001 in patients with malaria. Conclusion: The present study concluded that oxidative stress might be a cause of malarial anaemia. Alterations in oxidant and antioxidant levels might have a role in pathogenesis of malaria. As compared to individual markers, oxidative stress index was found to be significantly associated with malarial anaemia denoting its role as a better marker in these patients. Antimalarial therapy targeting the above factors might decrease the pathogenesis, morbidity and mortality in patients with malaria.