Introduction: Cigarette smoking is the single biggest avoidable cause of death and disability in developed countries. Smoking affects numerous organ systems resulting in various tobacco related diseases. Cigarette smoke increases the level of oxidative stress not only by the free radical induced lipid peroxidation but also by weakening the antioxidant defence mechanisms.
Objectives: The present study was undertaken to compare lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status in smokers and nonsmokers.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 80 male subjects with age varying from 20 to 40 years. They were divided into 2 groups, Group I included 40 smokers and Group II included 40 nonsmokers. The biochemical parameters of lipid peroxidation such as Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Antioxidant status such as vitamin C & E were estimated and data was statistically analysed using paired and unpaired student's t-test.
Results: The mean plasma MDA levels were significantly higher, whereas the mean plasma Vitamin C & E levels were non-significantly lower among the study group as compared to control group.
Conclusion: It can be concluded from our study that cigarette smoking leads to significant increase in lipid peroxidation due to excessive ROS production whereas the antioxidant status was non significantly lower due to younger age group having higher endogenous antioxidant storage.
