Journal of International Research in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Oxidative stress is a common observation in many clinical conditions. There is a paucity of data on the impact of oxidative stress on postpartum women in our population. This paucity of research data in this subject necessitated this study. This study evaluated the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), malondialdehyde (MDA), and Total antioxidant status (TAS) in postpartum women. The study involved 100 women who gave birth through vaginal delivery (VD) and another 100 women who gave birth through caesarian section (CS). Venous blood (10 ml) was collected from each subject and dispensed into plain bottles for the analysis of the parameters using ELISA technique. The mean levels of SOD in the VD subjects (58.19 ± 3.14 ng/ml) was significantly lower than the level in the CS subjects (70.24 ± 11.48 ng/ml) (p<0.001). The mean level of catalase in the VD subjects (93.34 ± 1.50ng/ml) was significantly lower than the level in the CS subjects (98.85 ± 2.34 ng/ml) (p<0.001). The mean level of GPx in the VD subjects (78.61 ± 1.50 ng/ml) was significantly lower than the mean level in CS subjects (91.75± 12.17 ng/ml) (p<0.001). The MDA level in the VD women (5.69 ± 0.38 mmol/l) was significantly lower than the level in the CS subjects (8.78 ± 0.50 mmol/l) (p<0.001). The TAS of the VD women (50.87 ± 0.72 ng/ml) was significantly lower than the level in the CS women (61.46 ± 0.86 ng/ml). The results from the study indicated that the VD women were more predisposed to oxidative stress that the CS women. It is important that oxidative stress assessment be considered in the management of postpartum women.