an evaluation of oxidative status in serum and breast milk of mothers giving birth prematurely and at full-term

Background: burning fat and carbohydrates to provide energy in biological systems causes the formation of free oxygen species. objectives: this study aimed to evaluate the oxidative status of serum and breast milk of mothers giving birth prematurely and at full-term. materials and methods: the study comprised 50 mothers who gave birth at full-term at more than 38 weeks and 43 mothers who gave birth pre-term at below 32 weeks. on the postnatal 5th day, samples of the mother’s milk and serum were taken and stored at -80°c until the study day. on the study day, the total oxidant and total antioxidant levels were measured using the erel method and the oxidative stress index (osi) was calculated. results: while the total oxidant level and total antioxidant level values of the milk of the premature birth mothers were found to be significantly high compared to those of the full-term birth mothers (p = 0.001), no statistically significant difference was found in the oxidative stress index values (p > 0.05). no statistically significant difference was found in the total oxidant level and oxidative stress index values of the serum of the premature birth mothers compared to those of the full-term birth mothers, while the total antioxidant level was found to be significantly low (p = 0.04). conclusions: the oxidants and antioxidants in the milk of mothers giving birth prematurely were found to be significantly higher than those of full-term birth mothers. this can be evaluated as the milk of the premature birth mothers providing increased antioxidant defense to protect the infant.