Prooxidant-antioxidant balance in blood during the surgical treatment of obliterating arterial atherosclerosis in the lower extremities.

The chronic disorder of arterial circulation in the lower extremities due to the atherosclerotic injuries of the femoral-popliteal-tibial arteries was accompanied by the shift of the blood prooxidant-antioxidant balance towards more active free radical oxidation and by a depletion of antioxidant system. After restoring arterial blood flow in the ischemic lower extremities this balance was shifted towards more prominent lipid peroxidation processes. Such pattern of prooxidant-antioxidant balance changes implicates the development of strategies for its correction targeted on the reduction of lipid peroxidation activity and therefore on a tissue defense against the reperfusion injury.