The Effect of Antioxidant Biomolecules in Ankylosing Spondylitis and Behçet’s Diseases

Aims: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and Behçet's disease (BD) are both chronic inflammatory diseases of unknown etiology. It is thought that the development of both diseases is related to several factors such as environmental, genetic predisposition and oxidative stress. To control the flow of reactive oxygen species, aerobic cells have developed their own enzymatic and non-enzymatic defence system. The enzymatic ones are superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase, non-enzymatic reduced glutathione (GSH). It is aimed to investigate the superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde, catalase and reduced glutathione levels in patients with AS and BD in this study.

Study Design: This study consisted of the 34 patients with AS and 24 patients with BD and 20 healthy control subjects who applied to Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Departments of Rheumatology and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Patients with haematological and other autoimmune diseases were excluded from the study.

Place and Duration of Study: Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Departments of Rheumatology and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Arts & Science Faculty, Department of Chemistry (Biochemistry Division), Adana, Turkey between September 2022 and August 2024.

Methodology: In this study, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were determined by spectrometric methods for both groups and their values were compared with IBM SPSS 20 software.

Results: The median age was 46.34 in the Ankylosing spondylitis group and 38.50 in the Behçet's disease group, and 42.55 in healthy control group. 64.7% of the Ankylosing Spondylitis group, 62.5% of the Behçet's disease group and healthy control group 50% were male. While the SOD and MDA levels were found significantly higher in both groups according to control group, GSH and catalase levels were found to be lower and statistically significant in both groups compared to the control group.

Conclusion: We strongly recommend the inclusion of high-potential antioxidants that will strengthen the antioxidant defense mechanism and reduce peroxidation as a supportive medical therapy to patients with both diseases, especially for the patients with AS.