Background

Oxidative stress plays a key role in respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in neonates. The pro-oxidant antioxidant balance (PAB) assay is a reliable and accurate method for determination of serum oxidants and antioxidants.

Objectives

Determination of the pro-oxidant antioxidant balance in preterm infants suffering from infant RDS and their mothers as patients in comparison with full-term infants and their mothers as normal controls.

Material and methods

The study was conducted on 54 neonates with infant RDS (sera pH < 7.2, Apgar score ≤ 5 and serious signs of RDS) and their mothers (n = 54), and the controls included 40 full-term infants (abnormal clinical sign were not seen until three days after delivery) and their mothers (n = 40). The samples were obtained from the infants’ cord blood and mothers’ venous blood immediately after delivery. The PAB assay was preformed on the subject's sera using a simple, rapid, and accurate method.

Results

The PAB values of preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome and their mothers and the full-term normal controls and their mothers were (34 ± 21), (14 ± 8.1), (183 ± 29.3) and (174 ± 18.9), respectively. Our obtained results have demonstrated that the PAB level is significantly higher in infants suffering from RDS than that of normal infant (p < 0.01). SPSS version 16 was used for statistical analysis, based on the one-way ANOVA test. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Conclusions

The PAB level of infants suffering from RDS and their mothers is significantly higher than those of the control group with a normal full-term delivery.