Covid increases stress levels: US researchers have found that people hospitalised with Covid-19 infection have significantly raised levels of oxidative stress, oxidant damage and markedly reduced levels of glutathione – the most abundant physiological antioxidant.
Oxidative stress results from the accumulation of free radicals, highly reactive molecules that can damage cells, membranes, lipids, proteins and DNA. Cells in the body make glutathione to protect themselves from oxidative stress. When cells fail to neutralise free radicals, harmful cellular damage can occur and potentially affect many physiological processes.
While oxidative stress is likely to increase in elderly people, the study published in the journal Antioxidants showed that Covid infection can cause the condition even in young people,Medical Daily reported .
“Increased oxidative stres and reduced glutathione levels are associated with a number of conditions including ageing, diabetes, HIV infection, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular disorders, neurometabolic diseases, obesity and others,” said corresponding author Dr Rajagopal Sekhar, associate professor of medicine in the section of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at the Baylor College of Medicine.
“We suspected that Covid-19 also might be affecting oxidativ stress and glutathione, and in this study we confirmed this in adults hospitalised with Covid-19. We found that these defects occur in all adult age groups, including young people, and worsen with increasing age.”
The team included 60 participants (25 women, 35 men; age range 21 to 85 years old), who had been admitted to the hospital based on a diagnosis of Covid-19. The team measured the levels of oxidative stress, oxidant damage and glutathione in the patients’ blood samples and compared them with those from healthy individuals.
“We were surprised to see that the Covid-19 patients in the 21 to 40 and the 41 to 60 groups had much less glutathione and more oxidative stress than the corresponding age groups without Covid-19,” Sekhar said.
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