Significance of monodialdehyde in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto immune disorder involving multi systems and its cause is unknown. From the available studies it is believed that, increased oxidative stress and decreased anti-oxidant status is the hallmark of this disease. Malondialdehyde is one such important lipid peroxidation indicator. This study was done to evaluate the significance of serum Malondialdehyde in rheumatoid patients. Materials and Methods: Our study was made in a tertiary institute between January 2015 to June 2017 for a period of 2 and half years. A total of 100 patients were included in the study. 50 of them were rheumatoid arthritis patients and another 50 were normal control subjects. Serum levels of Malondialdehyde were assessed using the thiobarbituric acid assay method with UV-VIS Spectrophotometer. Results: The serum monodialdehyde levels in rheumatoid people were 3.300 ± 0.450 nmoles/ml and it was 2.600 ± 0.490 in normal subjects group. On calculating ‘p' value for both the groups, it was < 0.01. Hence it was significant statistically between both groups. There was 23.14% increase of monodialdehyde levels in rheumatoid patients when compared to normal healthy population group. Conclusion: Pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis is a result of formation of increased free radicals formation during the disease process. Detection of Malondialdehyde in the serum of rheumatoid arthritis patients and its values is a simple tool which helps in diagnosing and to know the disease activity status.