Influence of smoking on maternal and neonatal serum malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase levels.

This cohort study investigated postnatal serum malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) levels in 14 active-smoking, 14 passive-smoking, and 15 non-smoking mothers and their newborns on day 7 post-partum. No significant differences were noted among the study groups with respect to MDA (p = 0.63) or SOD levels (p = 0.98) in either the mothers or their infants. However, there were significant differences among the study groups with respect to serum GPx activities in both the mothers (p = 0.028) and the infants (p = 0.039). When GPx activities were analyzed separately in both mothers and infants, a significant difference was noted only between the infants of smoking mothers and the infants of non-smoking mothers (p = 0.015). In conclusion, there was a significant increase in GPx activities of smoking mothers and their infants, suggesting that they may have been exposed to more oxidant stress.