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Total Antioxidant Capacity: A Useful Tool in Assessing Antioxidant Intake Status

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Natural compounds as inducers of cell death

Abstract

Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) considering the cumulative protective activities of all the antioxidants present in food was inversely associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, suggesting a great potential of dietary TAC as a useful dietary assessment tool in human clinical and intervention studies for assessing dietary antioxidant status and predicting plasma antioxidant defense. However, none of these factors has been successfully validated for relevance under different physiological conditions, or for reliability and predictability for in vivo antioxidant status. The objective of this study is to validate TAC as a useful dietary tool in assessing dietary antioxidant status. Forty postmenopausal, overweight and healthy women were recruited for an observational study. Seven day diet recalls and 12-h fasting blood samples were collected for dietary and plasma antioxidant assessments. Results: After multivariate adjustment, TAC from foods and TAC from foods and supplements were both positively associated with intakes of dietary antioxidants, including α-tocopherol (p < 0.001), vitamin C (p < 0.01), flavonoids (p < 0.001) and proanthocyanidins (p < 0.01); they were also positively associated with plasma TAC assayed by VCEAC, FRAP and ORAC methods (p < 0.05), and with plasma α-tocopherol (p < 0.0001), and β-cryptoxanthin (p < 0.01) concentrations. Fruits and fruit juices were the primary contributor to dietary TAC (from foods/foods and supplement) followed by tea and vegetable and vegetable juices. Conclusion: Dietary TAC could be used as a useful tool in predicting dietary and plasma antioxidant status.

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Abbreviations

AAPH:

2,2′-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride

ABAP:

2,2′-diazobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride

ABTS:

2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)

BODIPY:

4,4-difluoro-5-(4-phenyl-1,3-butadienyl)-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-3-undecanoic acid

BHT:

butylated hydroxytoluene

CRP:

C-reactive protein

CVD:

cardiovascular disease

DR:

diet recall

FFQ:

food frequency questionnaire

FRAP:

ferric reducing ability of plasma

HPLC:

high performance liquid chromatography

KOH:

potassium hydroxide

MeO-AMVN:

2,2′-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile)

ORAC:

oxygen radical absorbance capacity

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

TAC:

total antioxidant capacity

TAP:

total antioxidant performance

TEAC:

trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity

TG:

triglyceride

TRAP:

total radical-trapping antioxidant parameters

HDL-C:

high density lipoprotein cholesterol

LDL-C:

low density lipoprotein cholesterol

VCE:

vitamin C equivalent

VCEAC:

vitamin C equivalent antioxidant capacity

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The authors bear no conflict of interest regarding this article manuscript submitted to the Springer Publisher;

Supported by the Donaghue Research Foundation Nutrition Research Grant.

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Correspondence to Ock K. Chun Ph.D., M.P.H .

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Wang, Y. et al. (2012). Total Antioxidant Capacity: A Useful Tool in Assessing Antioxidant Intake Status. In: Diederich, M., Noworyta, K. (eds) Natural compounds as inducers of cell death. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4575-9_11

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