Ratio of Serum Superoxide Dismutase and Whole Blood Glutathione Peroxidase: A Noteworthy Parameter for Tuberculosis Diagnosis

Aim and background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis secretes extracellularly abundant amount of two proteins superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutamine synthetase (GS) having no leader sequences. The pathogenesis of M. tuberculosis is contributed by the secretion of iron-cofactored SOD which scavenges reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) by dismutation reaction and also blocks activation of NF-kB and mononuclear cell apoptosis. The obligatory aerobe catalase-positive M. tuberculosis also secretes selenoenzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx) catalyzing reduction of peroxides produced by dismutation reaction at the expense of reduced glutathione. In this study, the author has computed the statistical ratio of serum SOD and whole blood GPx level and mulled to use that as a diagnostic marker for tuberculosis (TB) and to monitor the effectiveness of drug therapy.