Protecting antioxidative effects of vitamins E and C in experimental physical stress

Abstract

Like every redox-active compound vitamin E may exert pro-oxidative and antioxidative effects depending on the reaction partners present. In this work we evaluated the intensity of oxidative stress produced by a physical exercise through swimming as well as of protecting action of antioxidant vitamins E and C. Antioxidant systems include antioxidant enzymes: superoxide-dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathion peroxidase (GSH-Px), as well as of components with an antioxidant action of the reduced glutathion type (GSH) and vitamins E and C. We determine the activities of these enzymes in the erythrocytes and heart homogenate. Our results points out a protective effect against oxidative stress produced by swimming in animals treated with vitamins E and C, which are expressed through the diminution of the malondialdehyde (MDA) quantity both in erythrocytes and in the heart, and through the conservation of GSH content in both products. CAT and GSH-Px activities decrease while that of SOD increases on both tissues, but with different intensities in accordance with the variation of protection degree performed by the vitamin couple on these tissues. The obtained data underline the necessity of intensifying the means of endogenous antiradical defence with exogenous antioxidant vitamins C and E. This study highlights the need of a proper vitamin supplement in organism under stress.

Effects of tocotrienol-rich fraction on exercise endurance capacity and oxidative stress in forced swimming rats

“…Protein carbonyl and TBARS, oxidative products of protein and lipid, respectively, are well known as useful markers for assessing oxidative stress in vivo (Hong and Johnson 1995;Sen et al 1997;Bejma and Ji 1999). Studies have shown that physical exercise can result in an increase in oxidative stress in vivo (Ji 1999;Alessio et al 2000;Ciocoiu et al 2007), which is known to play an important role in the muscle fatigue or damage in single muscle Wbers (Andrade et al 1998). Oxidative damage of proteins is accompanied by an increased number of carbonyl residues after endurance exercise in rat skeletal muscles (Levine et al 1990;Ji 1999).…”

“…Control TRF-25 TRF-50 T-25 enzymes in the heart (Reznick et al 1982;Ciocoiu et al 2007), blood, liver and muscle (Lew et al 1985;Ji 1993), lung (Salminen et al 1984), and brain (Somani et al 1995). Therefore, antioxidant (e.g.…”

“…SOD, CAT and GPx) and antioxidant nutrients (e.g. vitamin C, vitamin E, polyphenols), which may be involved in reducing oxidative stress (Leibovitz et al 1900;Zoppi et al 2006;Ciocoiu et al 2007;Wu and Ng 2007). As antioxidant enzymes play an important role in the protection against free radical damage, a decrease in the activities or expressions of these enzymes may predispose tissues to the free radical damage.…”

“…It is a potent lipid-soluble antioxidant in biological system that has the ability to directly quench free radicals and function as a membrane stabilizer. Studies have shown that vitamin E supplementation protected against exerciseinduced oxidative stress in humans (Meydani et al 1993;Zoppi et al 2006) and rats (Kumar et al 1992;Ciocoiu et al 2007), as well as improving physical endurance in mice (Novelli et al 1990). Studies also showed that endurance training can cause the depletion of vitamin E in both liver and skeletal muscle of rats (Aikawa et al 1984).…”

Potential immunoregulatory role of heme oxygenase-1 in human milk: a combined biochemical and molecular modeling approach

“…The explanation may reside in the presence of antioxidant enzymes, as well as free radical scavengers, among which glutathione Stransferase (GSH) plays a key role. GSH performs several important physiological functions such as (a) inactivation of oxygen-derived highly reactive species [13,14]; (b) detoxification of various types of xenobiotics [13] and carcinogens [15]; (c) maintenance of the oxidative status of other antioxidants such as ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol [16]; and (d) improvement of cellular immune response by activation of lymphocytes [17].…”