The relationship between the incidence of cardiovascular disease and the state of oxidative stress in blood has been studied to some extent. Several lines of evidence underscore the importance of primary prevention of cardiovascular disease beginning in childhood. However, little is known about the current state of oxidative stress in childhood. This study was carried out to determine the current state of the level of reactive oxygen metabolites (ROM) in serum of early teenagers.

This study enrolled 595 healthy junior high school students from the town of Nanbu located in northern Japan. Oxidative stress was evaluated by measuring the serum level of ROM, and antioxidant capacity was evaluated by measuring the serum level of biological antioxidant potential (BAP).

Although the ROM level in female students [308.6 ± 63.1 Carratelli units (U.CARR)] was slightly higher than that in males (299.9 ± 55.2 U.CARR), the difference was not statistically significant. The BAP level in males was significantly higher than that in females. The levels of ROM and BAP detected in males in the first grade were higher than those in the other grades. In females, only first-graders’ BAP was higher than that in other grades.

The current study found that the ROM level in males was negatively correlated with grade. These results suggest the presence of factor(s) that increase oxidative stress in Japanese puberty.