OXIDATIVE STRESS IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE AND EFFECT OF LYCOPENE (A DIETARY SUPPLEMENT) ON MARKERS OF OXIDATIVE STRESS, INFLAMMATION & PULMONARY FUNCTION

COPD is one of few diseases, where morbidity and mortality is on rise. Oxidative stress, inflammation, protease-antiprotease imbalance and apoptosis are the pathological principles responsible for COPD. In a perticular patient each of the above component interact and leads to different forms of disease. Standard treatment for COPD includes cessation of smoking, bronchodilators, antinflammatory drugs, theophyllins & vaccinations. Management of oxidative stress in COPD is not recommended. This may be due to non availablity of standard formulations for management of oxidative stress and more importantly lack of reliable data to support benefit of such compounds. There are many substances e.g lycopene, Vit-C & Vit-E which are available naturally and can be added as food supplement in the management of oxidative stress in many diseses including COPD. With the currenlty available data it is clear that lycopene supplementation significantly reduces serum levels of oxidative stress like Malondialdehyde (MDA), Superoxide dismutase(SOD), Interleukine-6(IL-6), Tumor necrotic factor-(TNF-alpha). It also shows improvement in lung function indices.