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. 2025 Apr;77(2):490-499.
doi: 10.1007/s43440-025-00696-8. Epub 2025 Feb 3.

Effects of COVID-19 and medication used for treatment and symptom prevention on the antioxidant status

Laura A Borba  1 , Getúlio Antonio de Freitas Filho  1 , Taiane de Azevedo Cardoso  2 , Camila O Arent  1 , Flávia S Niero  1 , Lucas C Pedro  1 , Caion A Rodrigues  1 , Lara R Cichella  1 , Margarete D Bagatini  3 , Gabriela Gonçalves de Oliveira  3 , Gilnei Bruno da Silva  3 , Daiane Manica  3 , Zuleide Maria Ignácio  3 , João Quevedo  1   4 , Luciane B Ceretta  5 , Gislaine Z Réus  6
Affiliations

Effects of COVID-19 and medication used for treatment and symptom prevention on the antioxidant status

Laura A Borba et al. Pharmacol Rep. 2025 Apr.

Abstract

Background: It is known that an inflammatory response plays a key role in COVID-19 pathogenesis. An exacerbated inflammatory response can increase oxidative stress in cells. This study aimed to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on parameters of oxidative stress including non-protein thiol antioxidants (NPSH), protein thiols (PSH), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), myeloperoxidase (MPO), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), ascorbic acid, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plasma collected four to six weeks after the diagnosis.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included a sex-matched sample of 296 adult individuals with 112 positives (cases) and 184 negatives (controls) for COVID-19. Oxidative stress parameters were peripherally analyzed according to previous methods.

Results: The results showed a decrease in NPSH (p = 0.004), TAC (p = 0.005), ROS (p < 0.001), and ascorbic acid (p < 0.001) in cases. TBARS were higher in moderate and severe cases of COVID-19 compared to asymptomatic and mild cases (p = 0.049). AOPP, PSH, and MPO were not significantly different between cases and controls. In the total sample, individuals who self-reported using medication to prevent or treat COVID-19 showed decreased NPSH (p = 0.034), TAC (p = 0.020), ascorbic acid (p = 0.010), and ROS (p = 0.001) compared to those who self-reported not using medication to prevent or treat COVID-19.

Conclusions: In conclusion, individuals with COVID-19 had decreased antioxidant status. Furthermore, disease severity was associated with more lipid damage. Antioxidant therapies may be essential to prevent the impacts of COVID-19.

Keywords: Antioxidants; COVID-19; Oxidative stress; Pandemic; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: Dr. de Azevedo Cardoso is a scientific editor at JMIR publications. Other authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

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