Total antioxidant activity in normal pregnancy

Objective: Pregnancy is a state, which is more prone for oxidative stress. Various studies report development of a strong defence mechanisms against free radical damage, as the pregnancy progresses. Aim of our study is to assess the antioxidant status by measuring the total antioxidant activity. Methods: Total antioxidant activity was assayed by Koracevic' et al's method, with the plasma of twenty five pregnant women (with normal blood pressure) as test group and twenty five age matched non-pregnant women as control group. All complicated pregnancies are excluded from the study. Results: Highly significant decline (P< 0.001) in antioxidant activity was observed in pregnant women with a value of 1.40 ± 0.25mmol/l, as compared to controls, 1.63 ± 0.21 mmol/l. Conclusion: Reduction in total antioxidant activity could be due to the fall in individual antioxidant levels. But several studies report an elevated enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants during pregnancy. Any way total antioxidant activity is not a simple sum of individual antioxidants, but the dynamic equilibrium & cooperation between them. So inspite the rise in individual antioxidants, total antioxidant activity may be low. Further studies need to be done with antioxidant activity as a marker of complicated pregnancies like pregnancy induced hypertension.