Biochemical Evaluation of Oxidative Stress Markers and Antioxidant Defence in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Increased oxidative stress is a widely accepted participant in the development and progression of diabetes and its complications. Oxidative stress is considered an important biochemical factor involved in the development and progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its vascular complications. The present study aims to evaluate oxidative stress biomarkers and antioxidant defence status in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and to assess the potential effect of vitamin E supplementation on reducing oxidative imbalance. A total of 130 subjects were included in the study, consisting of 40 age- and sex-matched healthy controls and 90 clinically diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients. The diabetic patients were divided into two treatment groups: Group I (n=45) received hypoglycemic drugs only, while Group II (n=45) received hypoglycemic drugs in combination with vitamin E supplementation. Biochemical parameters, including serum malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, superoxide dismutase, erythrocyte reduced glutathione, and platelet aggregation, were measured at baseline and reassessed after three months of follow-up. The results of Table 4 showed that patients receiving hypoglycemic drugs with vitamin E supplementation had lower MDA (3.6 ± 0.9 nmol/mL) and platelet aggregation (51.8 ± 9.6%) compared with patients receiving hypoglycemic drugs only (4.7 ± 1.0 nmol/mL and 60.2 ± 10.7%, respectively). In contrast, nitric oxide, SOD, and reduced GSH were higher in the vitamin E group (32.6 ± 7.2 µmol/L, 7.1 ± 1.5 U/mL, and 35.8 ± 7.6 mg/dL) compared with Group I (27.1 ± 6.5 µmol/L, 5.9 ± 1.4 U/mL, and 29.4 ± 7.1 mg/dL). These findings suggest that vitamin E supplementation may improve antioxidant defence and reduce oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic patients, in agreement with previous studies reporting beneficial antioxidant effects of vitamin E as an adjunct to hypoglycemic therapy.