ABSTRACT
Aim: The present study tends to examine the effect of consumption of Sphenostylis stenocarpa-formulated diet on oxidative stress biomarkers of dexamethasone-treated pregnant rats. Methodology: Sphenostylis stenocarpa was obtained locally from a market in Ado Ekiti. They were ground into powder and used to make feed for laboratory animals. Fifteen pregnant female rats were divided into three groups of five. Animals in group A were only fed standard animal feed. This served as the control group. Those in group B were exposed to Sphenostylis stenocarpa-formulated diet + 0.3 mg/kg body weight of dexamethasone, while those in group C were exposed to Sphenostylis stenocarpa-formulated diet. At the end of the eight days treatment, animals were sacrificed and blood sample, liver and kidney were collected. Results: The results revealed that treatment of animals with dexamethasone significantly increased (P<0.05) the activities of SOD and CAT and the concentration of MDA but decreased the concentration of GSH in plasma, liver homogenate and kidney homogenate respectively when compared with those in animals in the control group as well as those fed with S. stenocarpa-formulated diet only. The result further showed that feeding of animals with S. stenocarpa-formulated diet only had no significant effect on oxidative stress biomarkers investigated when compared with those in the control group. Conclusion: It can be concluded that exposure of animals to dexamethasone induced oxidative stress in animals while S. stenocarpa-formulated diet possesses the potential to alleviate the effect of oxidative stress generation.
ABSTRACT
Although vitamin C supplements were consumed for health maintenance and fatigue recovery, the effects of high doses of vitamin C supplement remains controversial. Our study performed the effects of 100 mg and 2,000 mg vitamin C supplements on plasma and urinary vitamin C concentration in Korean women. Twenty-four women completed the 4 weeks intervention. Anthropometric data, plasma and urinary vitamin C concentrations, superoxide dismutase activity, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) level, and fatigue severity scale (FSS) were collected, and the statistical analyses compared between- and within-group findings at pre- and post-intervention. Concentrations of vitamin C in plasma and urinary excretion were significantly increased with 100 mg and 2,000 mg of vitamin C supplementation (p < 0.050). TBARS level was decreased significantly with 2,000 mg of vitamin C supplementation (p < 0.050). In addition, FSS was declined significantly in 100 mg of vitamin C supplementation group (p < 0.050). Our result showed that vitamin C supplementation of either 100 mg or 2,000 mg led to an increase in vitamin C concentrations in plasma and vitamin urinary excretion but not statistically significant among groups. TBARS level was decreased in 2,000 mg and FSS was decreased in 100 mg of vitamin C supplementation in Korean women. We suppose that additional clinical trial is needed to examine the effects of vitamin C supplements for a wide range of doses on plasma and urinary vitamin C concentrations in Korean.