02164nas a2200313   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653001000059653002500069653001100094653001100105653001200116653002300128653000900151653002000160653001600180653002200196653001400218100001100232700001300243700001400256700001300270245008200283300001000365490000700375050001400382520144000396022001401836       2007                            d  c2007 Jul-Aug10aAdult10aCase-Control Studies10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aLipid Peroxidation10aMale10aMalondialdehyde10aMiddle Aged10aSpectrophotometry10aVitamin A1 aLima E1 aRoland I1 aMaroja MF1 aMarcon J00aVitamin A and lipid peroxidation in patients with different forms of leprosy.  a211-40 v49  aLIMA 20073 a<p>Leprosy, a chronic infectious disease, is caused by a Mycobacterium leprae infection. After India, Brazil has the second greatest number of cases in the world. Increase of oxidative stress and antioxidant deficiency are present in infected subjects and can be related to infection progression. We studied alterations in serum levels of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and vitamin A in patients with different forms of leprosy. Four groups of leprosy patients and a control group (healthy subjects) were selected, and their vitamin A serum levels and LPO profile, measured as malonaldehyde (MDA) were measured by spectrophotometric assays. The mean MDA serum levels (micromol/L) were 3.80 +/- 0.5 for control group and 10.54 +/- 1.1 in the leprosy patients and this increase was gradual, being more accentuated in severe forms of the disease. Also, the vitamin A serum levels (microg/dL) were diminished in the infected subjects (38.51 +/- 4.2), mainly in lepromatous form, when compared with the control group (53.8 +/- 5.6). These results indicate that LPO can be an important factor in Mycobacterium leprae infection, which can be related to increases in phagocytic activity and the general breakdown of antioxidants, contributing to an increase of LPO during infection progression. The evaluation of oxidant/antioxidant status in these patients can be an important factor in the treatment, control, and/or prognosis of this disease.</p>  a0036-4665