BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that tends to be progressive and chronic disease. Previous studies showed that oxidative stress has a main role in pathology of RA. The aim of this study was the easy elucidation of oxidative stress through pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB) in these patients. METHOD: The sera of 130 RA patients and 130 age-matched healthy subjects (HS) were collected and the PAB was measured. According to the normal value of PAB in HS, the patients group was divided into two groups; patients with increased serum PAB and those with normal serum PAB values. In patients with increased PAB value, the correlation of PAB value with RA disease activity [(DAS28ESR)], biochemical parameters, and BMI were determined. RESULTS: Significantly higher serum PAB values were found in the whole RA group of patients (88.69±39.42 HK) in comparison to HS (53.57±25.10 HK), p ≤ 0.05. There was no significant correlation between PAB values and RA disease activity. In patients with elevated serum PAB value; serum cholesterol, triglycerides and BMI were significantly higher in comparison to patients with normal values. CONCLUSION: The PAB test can show the oxidative stress in RA patients. Further research should be done to determine the potency of the PAB assay as a tool for monitoring adverse effect of oxidative stress in RA, as well as the effect of anti-oxidant therapies in the outcomes.

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