Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of oxidative stress and antioxidant situation on chronic otitis media with effusions (COME) and acute otitis media (AOM) in children.
Methods: A total of 107 children aged 2 to 13 years were examined. The study included 31 patients with AOM, 39 with COME, and 37 as control subjects. Venous blood samples were collected from all patients and control group. Myeloperoxidase (MPO), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were investigated in the blood samples.
Results: The mean age was found as 7.3 ± 3.3 in the AOM group, 6.2 ± 3.0 in the COME group, and 6 ± 2.4 in the control group. MPO, NO, and CAT were found to be significantly higher in the AOM and COME groups than the control groups (P = 0.040, P = 0.001, and P = 0.044).
Conclusion: In this study, we observed activity of antioxidant and oxidative stress in children with COME and AOM. These results may be important in the diagnosis of these diseases and may affect the theurapeutic approach to the patients with COME and AOM.
Keywords: Acute otitis media; antioxidants; chronic otitis media with effusions; oxidative stress.