Assessment of oxidative stress biomarkers and body mass index in pulmonary tuberculosis patients: A case-control study

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is a major public health concern in most underdeveloped and developing countries. PTB affects the nutritional status of the patients and influences the body mass index (BMI). There is tissue inflammation and free radical burst from activated phagocytes resulting in oxidative stress. The present study was designed to assess the relationship between oxidative stress and body mass index in newly detected pulmonary tuberculosis patients.

Methodology: This was a case-control study designed to assess oxidative stress parameters such as nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in 40 consecutive newly diagnosed PTB patients and compared with 40 age-matched healthy controls. The nutritional status of the study subjects was measured by calculating their BMI.

Results: The mean BMI was 21.61±3.52 Kg/m2 in controls and 17.47±1.56 Kg/m2 in PTB patients and the difference was statistically significant (p <0.0001). The mean levels of MDA (7.65±0.65 nmol/ml) and NO (36.12±1.07 µmol/l) were significantly higher in PTB patients compared to controls (MDA 3.56±0.41 nmol/ml and NO 14.48±0.93 µmol/l).

Conclusions: Increased levels of malondialdehyde and nitric oxide were observed in newly diagnosed PTB patients when compared to controls indicating oxidative stress in PTB. The BMI of these patients was significantly lower than the controls. Thus it is concluded that there is an inverse relationship between oxidative stress and BMI in PTB patients and antioxidant supplementation in addition to nutritional intervention under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program may help to improve the BMI and promote better recovery in these patients.