Catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) is an antioxidant enzyme that catalyses the conversion of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
to water and ½ O2. The catalase shows various catalitic activity in different tissues. The enzyme activity is
higher in liver and kidney and the lower in connective tissues. Human erythrocytes are rich in catalase. In this
study, we determined CAT activities in erythrocytes from 475 healthy subjects attended to different clinics for
different complaints. We have also divided the subjects into smoker (n=88) and nonsmoker groups (n=386) in
order to determine whether smoking may affect the enzyme activity or not in erythrocytes.
Enzyme activity was determined according to the method of Aebi. Activity was expressed in rate constant per
gram hemoglobin (k/grHb). Besides CAT activity; RBC, MCV, MCHC, MCH and HCT values were also
obtained from Coulter autosampler.
In order to determine CAT activity in different age groups, subjects were divided into to four groups as follows:
Group 1: ages between 0-20 (n=28), Group 2: ages between 21-40 (n=192), Group 3: ages between 41-
60 (n=172), Group 4: ages between 61-80 (n=83)
Erythrocyte CAT activities of these groups were found to be 2981 ± 962 k/gHb, 3039 ± 923 k/gHb, 3086±797
k/gHb and 3266 ± 13 k/gHb, respectively. Although differences of the mean activities between the groups were
not statistically significant, CAT activities were increased by age.
There is no effect of smoking on CAT activity in erytrocytes. The activities were 3173 ± 910 k/gHb for
smokers,and 3065 ± 979 k/gHb for non-smokers. As seen, smokers have higher CAT activity than nonsmokers,
but it was not statistically significant.
Key Words: Age, Smoking, Catalase, Antioxidant, Hematological Parameters
|
