Antioxidant Effects of Oral Zinc Sulfate in Patients with Bechet's Disease

Abstract

Treatment of Behcet disease (BD) is still considered challenging since no single agent has yet proved to reverse the underlying oxidative stress-induced inflammatory process. Zinc sulfate treatment has been shown to have an effective therapeutic outcome, however adequate exploration of the exact mechanism for its therapeutic benefit is still lacking. This study was carried out to assess and relate the oxidative stress parameters with the clinical manifestation index before and after oral zinc sulfate treatment. Twenty-five Behcet disease (BD) patients were recruited in the study besides an equal number of healthy individuals representing the control group. Patients were treated with 300mg/day oral zinc sulfate in three divided doses for one month. Blood samples were collected from the control group, patient group (before starting treatment),and treatment group (after zinc sulfate treatment) to measure serum oxidative stress parameters as well as antioxidant parameters. A dermatologist who was blind to the treatment calculated the clinical manifestation index (CMI) score and the oral ulcer parameters for each individual in the patient and treatment groups. Serum MDA, copper levels were found significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group. However, both parameters were considerably lower in the treatment group than in the patient group. Serum glutathione (GSH), zinc levels and RBC catalase activity were significantly lower in the patient group than in the control group, but they were substantially higher in the treatment group as compared to the patient group. The CMI score and oral ulcer parameters decreased significantly in the treatment group (after zinc sulfate treatment) compared to the patients’ group. The CMI demonstrated a significant positive correlation (P<0.01) with the oxidative stress parameters. In conclusion, BD patients were suffering from oxidative stress, the severity of which was directly proportional to the CMI score. The antioxidant activity of oral zinc sulfate treatment i