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Effects of lutein or lutein in combination with vitamin C on mRNA expression and activity of antioxidant enzymes and status of the antioxidant system in SD rats

Laboratory Animal Research volume 31, pages 117–124 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of lutein alone or in combination with vitamin C on the antioxidant defense system in rats. A total of 18 eight-week-old male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly assigned to three groups for 4 weeks: control (CON), lutein (LUT, 50 mg lutein/kg BW) and lutein plus vitamin C (LVC, 50 mg lutein/kg BW+1,000 mg vitamin C/kg BW). No differences in body weight, relative live weight or plasma biochemical profiles were observed among treatment groups. In the hepatic antioxidant defense systems, the mRNA expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the LUT and LVC groups was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that in the CON group, whereas the mRNA level of glutathione peroxidase (GPX), catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) was not affected by the administration of antioxidants. SOD and GST activities in the LUT and LVC groups were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those in the CON group, whereas GPX, CAT and lipid peroxidation did not differ among groups. In addition, the LVC group showed a significant (P<0.05) increase in plasma and hepatic total antioxidant power (TAP) relative to the CON group. Overall, administration of lutein in combination with vitamin C improved the status of the total antioxidant defense system in SD rats.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology Grant 2014. The authors also thank to the technical support of the Regional Animal Research Center (RAIC) at GNTECH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology and the Regional Animal Research Center, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, Chilam-Dong 150, Jinju, Gyeongnam, 52725, Korea

    Min-Hae Song & In-Surk Jang

  2. Department of Food Science, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, Jinju, Korea

    Eu-Chul Shin

  3. Department of Biomaterials Science, College of Natural Resources & Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute, Pusan National University, Miryang, Korea

    Dae-Youn Hwang

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  1. Min-Hae Song
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  2. Eu-Chul Shin
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Correspondence to In-Surk Jang.

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Song, MH., Shin, EC., Hwang, DY. et al. Effects of lutein or lutein in combination with vitamin C on mRNA expression and activity of antioxidant enzymes and status of the antioxidant system in SD rats. Lab Anim Res 31, 117–124 (2015). https://doi.org/10.5625/lar.2015.31.3.117

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.5625/lar.2015.31.3.117

Keywords

  • Lutein
  • lutein plus vitamin C
  • antioxidant enzymes
  • lipid peroxidation
  • total antioxidant power

Laboratory Animal Research

ISSN: 2233-7660