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<div><table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="90%" align="left"><tbody><tr><td width="485" valign="top"><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>Abstract </strong></p> <p><strong>INTRODUCTION:</strong><strong> </strong>The incidence of atherosclerosis increases with age, as do various indices of free-radical-mediated damage, e.g. lipid peroxidation. Because Antioxidant enzymes are the major defense system of cells in normal aerobic reactions, we aimed to assess the age-related alterations in the activity of erythrocyte cytoprotective enzymes among women.</p> <p><strong>methods:</strong><strong> </strong>One hundred sixty 20-45-year-old women were randomly selected among women receiving the services of rural health centers of Kerman Province, Iran. Data were gathered by using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. We assessed lipid peroxidation by measuring the concentrations of plasma malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and the activities of erythrocyte copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and catalase (CAT).</p> <p><strong>results:</strong> Those individuals in the highest quartiles of age and number of pregnancies presented the highest levels of plasma MDA (P&lt;0.001). We also observed an inverse relationship between age and erythrocyte CuZn-SOD and GPX activities. Although we found no significant difference between age groups in respect of erythrocyte CAT activity and/or plasma TAC levels, erythrocyte GPX activity was negatively correlated with the number of pregnancies (P&lt;0.001) . No significant difference was found between age groups and/or between quartiles of number of pregnancies for either energy or nutrient intake. Plasma MDA levels were positively related to age (r=0.307; P&lt;0.0001), number of pregnancies (r=0.250; P&lt;0.001), fat intake (r=0.281; P&lt;0.05) and Vitamin E intake (r=0.356; P&lt;0.01). Furthermore, there were negative correlations both between age and GPX activity (r= -0.280; P&lt;0.0001) as well as with CuZn-SOD(r= -0.228; P&lt;0.005).</p> <p><strong>CONCLUSIONS:</strong> Lipid peroxidation and antioxidants were affected by age. Erythrocyte cytoprotective enzymes have an important role in detoxification of free radicals in the body; the age-related decrease in the activities of these enzymes might contribute to atherogenesis, along with classic risk factors.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p></td></tr> <tr><td width="485" valign="top"><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>Keywords:</strong><strong> </strong>Age, lipid peroxidation, cytoprotective enzymes, oxidative stress, women.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div>