Antioxidative protection system activity depends on duration of chronic narcotic intoxication

A number of metabolic disorders in drug addicted patients is caused by chronic psychoactive drug intoxication. Most of these changes play leading role in the pathogenesis and thanatogenesis of many conditions that may largely differ from each other aethiologically. One of these serious metabolic disturbances is an increased free-radical cell oxidation. All groups studied are showing the growth of the oxidative stress, reportedly related to: disorders of the pro- and anti-oxidative proportion; growing anti-oxidative system failure; and boost of the concentration of metabolic agents. The activity of anti-oxidative enzymes and the concentration of reduced glutathione along with lipid peroxidation factors and common peroxide plasma concentration has been examined in samples of blood taken from patients. The enzymes were superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase.