Indicators of Metabolic Imbalance in Seemingly Healthy individuals: Serum Antioxidant Enzyme (SOD, CAT, GPx)

Nuha Hamza Khedhir

Abstract

Metabolic imbalance is a preclinical mechanism that silent process that follows the development of overt disease and is tightly associated with the oxidative stress and the low-grade chronic inflammation. The objective of the study was to examine the association between the serum antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and the metabolic, inflammatory, and physiological biomarkers in seemingly healthy adults. The study was a cross-sectional analytical study of 180 adults (20-55 years). The biochemical and physiological parameters were analyzed (28 in total, which included the markers of oxidative stress), such as SOD, CAT, GPx, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), and GSH/GSSG ratio), glycemic indices (fasting blood glucose (FBG), HbA1c, insulin, and HOMA-IR), lipid profile (total cholesterol (TC), LDL, HDL, triglycerides (TG), and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP)), inflammatory markers (hs-CRP, IL-6, TNF-α), adipokines (leptin and adiponectin), anthropometric indices (BMI, waist circumference, body fat percentage), and blood pressure. There were notable changes in the antioxidant enzyme activity of those people with early metabolic aberrations. SOD and GPx also exhibited strong negative relationships with BMI, triglycerides, HOMA-IR, hs-CRP, and IL-6 (p < 0.01), which showed that the lower the metabolic status, the less the antioxidant protection. Conversely, CAT activity showed a compensatory increment at the initial phases of metabolic disequilibrium. The multivariate regression analysis found HOMA-IR, AIP, and IL-6 to be the independent predictor of reduced antioxidant capacity. These results imply that serum antioxidant enzyme can be used as an early integrative biomarker to indicate the presence of subclinical metabolic dysregulation in otherwise healthy people.