Less than 12% of the individuals in each of the 3 groups had erythrocyte glutathione reductase activation coefficients less than 1.2, indicating a widely occurring riboflavin deficiency.
The vitamin additionally plays a significant role in the normal functioning of glutathione reductase (GR) as an antioxidant enzyme, and conditions of riboflavin deficiency lead to oxidative damage.
Compared with the optimal riboflavin levels, the riboflavin deficiency treatment decreased the activities of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), glutathione reductase (GR), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and reduced the glutathione (GSH) content (P < 0.05).