ascorbic-acid and trans-sodium-crocetinate

This study compared the effects of placebo with a carotenoid compound, crocetin, as well as an antioxidant, ascorbic acid, on physical fatigue in humans. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, 3-way crossover study, 14 Japanese healthy volunteers (7 men and 7 women) were randomized to oral administration of crocetin (15 mg), ascorbic acid (3,000 mg), or placebo for 8 days. Subjects performed workload tests on a bicycle ergometer at fixed workloads for 120 minutes at 2 times (a total of 240 minutes) as a fatigue-inducing physical task. During the physical task, subjects performed nonworkload tests at maximum velocity (MV) of 10 seconds at 30 minutes (30-minute test) after the start of the physical task and at 30 minutes before the end of the task (210-minute test). The change in MV from the 30- to the 210-minute test was significantly higher in men who received crocetin compared with men who received placebo (P < .05). This effect of crocetin was specific to males. Administration of ascorbic acid did not change in MV from the 30-minute to the 210-minute test on males or females. These results suggest that daily administration of crocetin may attenuate physical fatigue in men.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Adult; Antioxidants; Ascorbic Acid; Bicycling; Carotenoids; Double-Blind Method; Drug Administration Schedule; Exercise; Exercise Test; Fatigue; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Physical Exertion; Sex Factors; Vitamin A

Reducing radiation damage is important and dietary antioxidants that can protect cells from such damage are of value. Dietary lycopene, a carotenoid found in tomatoes, protects human lymphoid cell membranes from damage by γ-radiation. We report that such protective effects are remarkably reduced as the oxygen concentration increases - near zero at 100% oxygen from fivefold protection at 20% oxygen and, dramatically, from 50-fold protection at 0% oxygen. Such huge differences imply that under higher oxygen concentrations lycopene could lead to improved cancer therapy using γ-radiation. The cells are not efficiently protected from the superoxide radical by lycopene. Noncellular studies suggest molecular mechanisms for the oxygen effect.

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Carotenoids; Cell Death; Cytoprotection; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; Gamma Rays; Humans; Hydroxyl Radical; Lycopene; Oxygen; Spectrum Analysis; Superoxides; Vitamin A; Vitamin E

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Carotenoids; Chemical Phenomena; Chemistry; Free Radicals; Kinetics; Oxygen; Photolysis; Vitamin A