Hyperoxia-induced changes in antioxidant capacity and the effect of dietary antioxidants

1 Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Agriculture Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Boston, Massachusetts 02111; 2 Nutritional Science Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269; and 3 Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado 80262 We investigated, by measuring oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), whether hyperoxia causes alterations in antioxidant status and whether these alterations could be modulated by dietary antioxidants. Rats were fed for 8 wk a control diet or a control diet supplemented with vitamin E (500 IU/kg) or with aqueous extracts (ORAC: 1.36 mmol Trolox equivalents/kg) from blueberries or spinach and then were exposed to air or >99% O 2 for 48 h. Although the constituents of the extracts were not extensively characterized, HPLC indicated that blueberry extract was particularly rich in anthocyanins, and the spinach extract did not contain any anthocyanins. The ORAC was determined in samples without proteins [serum treated with perchloric acid (PCA); ORAC PCA ] and with proteins (ORAC tot ). Hyperoxia induced a decrease in serum protein concentration, an increase in serum ORAC PCA , decreases in lung ORAC PCA and ORAC tot , and an equilibration of proteins and ORAC PCA between serum and pleural effusion. These alterations suggested a redistribution of antioxidants between tissues and an increase in capillary permeability during hyperoxia. Only the blueberry extract was effective in alleviating the hyperoxia-induced redistribution of antioxidants between tissues. oxygen radical absorbance capacity; -tocopherol; spinach; blueberry