ABSTRACT

Purpose:

The etiopathogenesis of Behçet’s disease (BD) remains unknown, while increasing attention has been focused on the role of excessive production of free radicals produced by activated neutrophils. The purpose of the study was to assess the oxidant/antioxidant status in BD and to evaluate the effects of colchicine and vitamin E therapies on these systems

Materials and Methods:

The levels of plasma malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were mea-sured in 20 patients in the active stage of the disease and in 20 healthy controls. These measurements were repeated in patients with BD after three months of therapy with either colchicine 1.5 mg/day or colchicine plus 400 IU vitamin E

Results:

Higher MDA levels and lower SOD and GSH-Px activities were ob-served in the patients when compared with the controls (p<0.05). After three months, MDA levels decreased, and SOD and GSH-Px levels tended to increa-se in the colchicine and colchicine plus vitamin E groups compared to the pre-treatment levels (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was observed between the treatment groups

Conclusion:

Our results showed that lipid peroxidation is increased and eryt-hrocyte antioxidant capacity is decreased in patients with active BD, and that colchicine alone and colchicine plus vitamin E have beneficial effects on anti-oxidant defense systems in BD