RESUMO
We propose that oxidative damage may play a role in the pathogenesis of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). Participants were selected from Basic Attention Ambulatory from North of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. All subjects were older than 65 years - 17 patients with IDA and primary hypertension and 18 patients with primary hypertension (control group) were included in the present study. We measured antioxidant defenses including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and total glutathione (GSH) by spectrophotometric assays. We also determined protein oxidative damage in haemolysate and plasma by carbonyl assay. We characterized the lipid peroxidation by malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation. The results show that IDA patients had significantly higher CAT and SOD levels than controls. GPx activity was not different between the groups. Oxidative protein damage was noted in the plasma but not in the haemolysate. A significantly enhanced production of MDA was observed in the serum of IDA patients, as an indication of increased level of auto-oxidizable lipids under oxidative stress. These results support the idea that patients with IDA are subjected to chronic oxidative stress. Therefore it is important that IDA in older persons receives adequate attention in clinical practice and is not considered simply a part of normal aging.