Alteration in Plasma Tocopherol Levels in the Patient with Different Stages of Essential Hypertension

Free radicals and subsequent damage in the form of lipid peroxidation have been implicated in the pathogenesis of variety of cardiovascular diseases including essential hypertension. However, its precise etiology is unknown. These free radicals are effectively controlled by antioxidants but under pathophysiological condition these antioxidant level changes which enhance further deterioration. In this context, a study was done to assess the levels of plasma tocopherol, a potent non-enzymic antioxidant and malondialdehyde (marker of lipid peroxidation) in Hypertensive subjects and to determine the variation in their levels with severity of disease. In the present study, plasma tocopherol level and Malondialdehyde levels were measured in 60 hypertensive subjects (30-55 years) which were categorized into three groups as prehypertension, Stage I HT and Stage II HT, depending upon their blood pressure and statistically compared it with that of 20 healthy individual, served as control. Plasma tocopherol level was found to be significantly low in each patient group as compared to control (p<0.001) and inversely related to the malondialdehyde levels (p<0.05) and blood pressure. These findings suggest that excess production of free radicals occur in the body with subsequent rise in blood pressure as characterized by increased production of malondialdehyde and plasma tocopherol is consumed in scavenging free radical to reduce oxidative stress mediated destructions. Therefore, consumption of diet rich in vitamin E should be increased with severity of disease.