Erythrocyte Antioxidant Defence Notential in Chromic Ethanol and Cannabis Intoxication

Abstract

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS As far back as recorded history, every society has used drugs that produce effects on mood, thought, and feeling. Alcohol, primarily in the form, of ethyl alcohol (ethanol), has occupied an important place in the history of human kind for at least 8000 years. Historically, cannabis [also known as marijuana (MJ) or marihuana] has been used for thousands of years for a variety of purposes. '' Lipid peroxidation is a well known example of oxidative damage in cell membranes, lipoproteins, and other lipid-containing structures.\? Erythrocyte membranes are liable to lipid peroxidation owing to their contJnt of polyunsaturated lipids and to the fact that they are directly I exposed to molecular oxygen. 'The biochemical defenses that protect organism from the free radical• damage include both low molecular weight free radical scavengers as r vitamin E & C and complex antioxidant enzymatic system including super oxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of chronic ethanol and cannabis abuse on the oxidant-antioxidant balance through measuring the levels of lipid peroxide (MDA), glutathione content (GSH), the enzymatic activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), superoxide dism~tase (SOD) and catalase (CAT).