Introduction:

Human papillomavirus per se can not carry out all the neoplastic transformations occurring in the uterine cervix. Genetic and environmental risk factors as well as sexual behavior and oxidative imbalance may also play a role.

Objective:

Determine the behavior of the enzymatic antioxidant system in women with squamous cell atypia of indeterminate significance and grade I cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

Methods:

Three study groups were formed. The first group included 30 women diagnosed with atypia, the second group was made up of 40 women with grade I intraepithelial neoplasia, and the third or control group consisted of 30 women with negative cytology from Agustín Gómez Lubián Cervical Pathology service in Santa Clara. Spectrophotometric methods were used to determine the levels of superoxide dismutase and catalase enzymatic activity, as well as the concentrations of reduced glutathione. Comparisons were made with the SPSS software, version 18.

Results:

In the atypia group the three parameters showed a decreasing tendency, but differences with respect to the control group were not significant. In the grade I neoplasia group, however, a significant reduction was found of the three study indicators when compared with the control group.

Conclusions:

Damage to the enzymatic antioxidant system was observed in the grade I neoplasia group. This could be considered to be an important cofactor in the progress of uterine cervix lesions.

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