The changes of serum oxidative stress indexes of mice exposed to intermittent hypoxia and the therapeutical effect of N-acetylcysteine

Objective To investigate the changes of serum oxidative stress indexs of mice exposed to intermittent hypoxia(IH) and the therapeutical effect of N-acetylcysteine(NAC).MethodsFifty mice were randomly divided into control group(group A,20 mice) and IH group(group B,30 mice),models of which were respectively established for 3 days,1 week,2 weeks,3 weeks and 4 weeks.And IH 4 weeks plus NAC treatment group(group C,6 mice) was set up.Serum levels of superoxide dismutase(SOD),malondialdehyde(MDA) and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-PX) expression of mice were detected.Results Compared with group A,MDA level in group B was increased(P0.05),while the contents of SOD and GSH-PX in group B were decreased(P0.05).Furthermore,the increase of MDA and decreases of SOD,GSH-PX in group B for 1-4 weeks were time-dependent(P0.05).NAC treatment reversed the increase of MDA and decreases of SOD,GSH-PX in group B for 4 weeks(P0.05).Conclusion IH leads to a time-dependent oxidative stress injury in mice,which is prevented by NAC treatment.