Abstract

RODRIGUEZ, Jesús Alfonso et al. Levels of superoxide dismutase enzyme in normotensive, prehypertensive and hypertensive children. Acta bioquím. clín. latinoam. [online]. 2012, vol.46, n.4. ISSN 0325-2957.

High blood pressure in children has become a major health problem due to the frequency this disease is appearing today. Reactive oxygen species is one of the mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of hypertension. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the activity of the superoxide dismutase enzyme and total proteins by the Lowry and Marklund methods in 335 students from four elementary schools in Santa Clara, according to sex, color, age and body mass index. To determine significant differences between normotensive, prehypertensive and hypertensive children, Student's tests, and Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whinney tests, which are part of the SPSS 15 statistical package, were used. Superoxide dismutase activity had a significant decrease in prehypertensive and hypertensive students. Something similar happened in male, white children, 8 years of age with high blood pressure, and with the ones of normal weight. When the activity of this enzyme is affected in children with high blood pressure, it can lead to the presence of reactive oxygen species and thus of oxidative damage.

Keywords : High blood pressure; Prehypertension; Superoxide dismutase; Superoxide anion; Reactive oxygen species.

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