Lipid Peroxidation and the Antioxidant System in the Blood of Epileptic Patients

—We studied lipid peroxidation and measured the products of lipid peroxidation (LPO) together with the indices of the antioxidant system (AOS) in the blood of patients with epilepsy of various severities in the South Kazakhstan region of Kazakhstan. We examined 95 epileptic patients, including 35 patients with 3 seizure attacks per year, 30 patients with up to 12 seizure attacks per year, and 30 patients with more than 12 seizure attacks per year, that is, low, moderate, and severe levels of epilepsy, respectively, and 30 healthy men. We measured LPO products with simultaneous estimation of activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPO) as well as antiradical (ARA) and antioxidant activity (AOA) in biological fluids. We also studied non-enzymatic antioxidant indices, such as the contents of α-tocopherol and SH-groups depending on epilepsy severity. We found that the content of LPO products in red blood cells and the deficit of the mechanisms of antioxidant defense increased depending on the severity of epilepsy in patients. In parallel to the increase in the level of lipid peroxides, lipid oxidizability was also enhanced in the blood of epileptic patients. Insufficiency of α-tocopherol was associated with decreased activity of SOD, AOA, and ARA in the body of patients. This complex study indicates that in epilepsy accumulation of lipid peroxides in the blood and a decrease in the activity of the AOS in the body occur. The expression of these processes directly depends on the severity of epilepsy.