Investigation of oxidative and antioxidative status in patients with diabetic cataracts

Aim: To investigate the oxidative and antioxidative status in diabetic patients with cataracts and nondiabetic patients with cataracts as compared to controls. Materials and methods: There were 149 subjects included in the present study. Blood was collected from type 2 diabetic patients suffering from cataracts (diabetic cataract; n = 42), senile nondiabetic patients suffering from cataracts (nondiabetic cataracts; n = 60), and healthy subjects of a control group (n = 47). Serum levels of total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), total thiol levels (TTLs), and paraoxonase 1 (PON1) were investigated in the samples. Results: TTLs were significantly reduced in diabetic cataract patients (444.8 mu mol/L) compared with both nondiabetic cataract patients (525.1 mu mol/L) and the control group (569.9 mu mol/L). Plasma PON1 levels also were significantly reduced in diabetic cataract patients (241.9 U/L) relative to the control group (178.3 U/L). There were no statistically significant differences between TAS and TOS levels among groups. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates a significant reduction in serum TTLs and serum PON1 activities in diabetic cataract patients compared with controls. These findings represent a failure in the antioxidant system, which may be related to the cataractogenic process.