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Dietary supplementation with different vitamin C doses: no effect on oxidative DNA damage in healthy people

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Summary

Background

Antioxidants are believed to prevent many types of disease. Some previous studies suggest that dietary supplementation with vitamin C results in a decrease in the level of one of the markers of oxidative damage—8-oxoguanine in the DNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).

Aim of trial

To investigate the effect of different dose levels of dietary supplementation with vitamin C on oxidative DNA damage.

Methods

A randomised double–blind placebo–controlled trial was carried out using three different levels (80, 200 and 400 mg) of dietary vitamin C supplementation in a healthy population of 160 volunteers; supplementation was for a period of 15 weeks followed by a 10 week washout period. Peripheral blood samples were obtained every 5 weeks from baseline to 25 weeks.

Results

An increase in PBMC vitamin C levels was not observed following supplementation in healthy volunteers. There was no effect found on 8–oxoguanine measured using HPLC with electrochemical detection for any of the three supplemented groups compared to placebo. 8–oxoadenine levels were below the limit of detection of the HPLC system used here.

Conclusions

Supplementation with vitamin C had little effect on cellular levels in this group of healthy individuals, suggesting their diets were replete in vitamin C. The dose range of vitamin C used did not affect oxidative damage in PBMC DNA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester Robert Kilpatrick Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester LE2 7LX, UK

    K. E. Herbert & S. Fletcher

  2. Dept. of Pathology, University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK

    D. Chauhan, A. Ladapo, J. Nirwan, S. Munson & P. Mistry

Authors
  1. K. E. Herbert
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  2. S. Fletcher
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  3. D. Chauhan
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  4. A. Ladapo
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  5. J. Nirwan
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  6. S. Munson
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  7. P. Mistry
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Herbert, K.E., Fletcher, S., Chauhan, D. et al. Dietary supplementation with different vitamin C doses: no effect on oxidative DNA damage in healthy people. Eur J Nutr 45, 97–104 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-005-0569-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-005-0569-4

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