Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
28 (1999) 65–83
Blood antioxidant defense system and dietary
survey of elderly diabetic men
Linda H. Chen
a,c,
*, Yeannette de Osio
a,c
, James W. Anderson
b,c
a
Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Uni6ersity of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
40506
, USA
b
Department of Medicine, Uni6ersity of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
40506
, USA
c
Nutritional Sciences Program, Uni6ersity of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
40506
, USA
Received 4 March 1998; received in revised form 27 August 1998; accepted 3 September 1998
Abstract
Levels of antioxidants, activities of free radical scavenging enzymes and extent of lipid
peroxidation were determined in the blood of 37 elderly diabetic men and 30 control elderly
men, 16 without cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 14 with CVD. The mean 9S.D. of the
ages of the diabetic men was 66 9 5 and those of the control men was 69 95, while serum
glucose levels of diabetic men were 213 9 81 mg/dl and that of control subjects were 95 914
mg/dl. Among the diabetic men, 13 men were obese with body mass index \30, 26 men had
poor control of diabetes (glycohemoglobin \7%) and 25 men had retinopathy. The diets of
the control and diabetic men were evaluated. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for
major endogenous antioxidant defense parameters and lipid peroxidation. The results show
that diabetic men had significantly lower blood reduced glutathione levels (p B 0.001) and
erythrocyte (RBC) CuZn-superoxide dismutase activity (p B0.001) when compared to con-
trol groups with or without CVD. There was no significant differences in plasma vitamin E
levels and the activities of catalase and glutathione peroxidase in RBC among the three
groups. The extent of lipid peroxidation was highest in diabetic patients, intermediate in
controls with CVD, and lowest in controls without CVD. The results suggest that a decline
of endogenous antioxidant defense capability contributes to oxidative stress in the diabetic
elderly patients. Dietary survey showed that there were no differences in the nutrient intakes
of diabetic and control groups. It appears that individual dietary advice is needed for a large
portion of diabetic patients in view of their poor glycemic control, hypertriglyceridemia and
obesity. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
* Corresponding author.
0167-4943/99/$ - see front matter © 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII
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