Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities in experimental maxillary sinusitis

The aims of this study were to assess whether the increased oxidative stress of acute maxillary sinusitis is reflected by tissue lipid peroxidation and whether the activities of selected antioxidant enzymes are altered during inflammation of the maxillary sinus mucosa. Unilateral rhinosinusitis was induced in 8 rabbits by instillation of 0.2 ml of a killed suspension of Staphylococcus aureus into the right maxillary sinus cavity; control instillation of saline solution into the left maxillary sinus cavity of the same rabbits was also performed. At 7 days post-treatment, mucosal samples were excised from the treated and control sinuses for measurements of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA). The SOD activity in mucosa of the inflammed sinuses was significantly higher than in control sinus mucosa; GPx activity was significantly lower in the inflammed sinuses than in the controls. No significant differences were found in CAT activities or MDA levels of the inflammed versus the control sinus mucosa. These findings demonstrate that experimental induction of acute maxillary sinusitis in rabbits does not increase lipid peroxidation as evidenced by MDA levels in the sinus mucosa, but does alter the activities of some antioxidant enzymes.