Patients with chronic critical limb ischaemia have reduced total antioxidant capacity and impaired nutritional status

Abstract

Introduction: it has previously been demonstrated that total antioxidant capacity (TAC) can help predict which patients undergoing femoro-distal reconstruction are susceptible to postoperative infections.

Aims: the aims of this study were to examine if TAC is influenced by the nutritional state of the patient and the degree of ischaemia.

Patients and methods: thirty patients with rest pain (21 men and 9 women), with a median age of 69 years and fifteen controls (9 men and 6 women), median age of 66 years, were studied. Nutritional status was assessed using serum albumin, body mass index (BMI), maximum voluntary contraction using a hand grip dynamometer and bioelectrical impedance to determine lean body mass. Blood was also taken for total antioxidant capacity (TAC).

Results: patients with chronic critical limb ischaemia (CCLI) had a lower TAC than controls (752 vs 1,130 micromol/l, p<0.05 Mann-Whitney U -test). There was no difference in serum albumin concentration between the CCLI group compared with controls (31 mmol/L vs 35 mmol/L, p>0.05 Mann-Whitney U-test). There was also no difference in BMI (23 vs 27, p>0.05 U-test) between the two groups. The other markers of nutrition including, maximum voluntary contractions (28.6 kg/m(2)vs 37.4 kg/m(2), p<0.05 M-W U-test), and lean body mass (3.0 vs 3.8 M-W U-test), showed a significant reduction in the vascular patients.

Conclusion: TAC is significantly reduced in patients with CCLI and this may, in part, be explained by their impaired nutritional status.