Does vitamin C act as a pro-oxidant under physiological conditions?
The Linus Pauling Institute and the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Oregon State
University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA
http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/reprint/13/9/1007.pdf
Does vitamin C act as a pro-oxidant under physiological conditions? The answer appears to be `no'. Of the 44 in vivo studies discussed (Tables 2 3 4) , 38 showed a reduction in markers of oxidative DNA, lipid, and protein damage, 14 showed no change and only 6 showed an increase in oxidative damage after supplementation with vitamin C. Several of the studies showed a combination of effects depending on the study systems or experimental design. Even in the presence of iron (summarized in Table 5 ), vitamin C predominantly reduced in vivo oxidative damage, despite its well known pro-oxidant properties in vitro in buffer systems containing iron. In more complex and physiologically relevant in vitro systems, such as isolated or cultured cells (Table 2) and biological fluids (Tables 3 and 4) , an antioxidant role, or no effect of vitamin C, predominated over a pro-oxidant role. Studies that report a pro-oxidant role for vitamin C need to be evaluated carefully as to their choice of biomarkers, methodology, study system, and experimental design to rule out any oxidation artifacts. It is hoped that these four important considerations will be taken into account in all future studies of the role of vitamin C in oxidative damage.
Ascorbate Reacts with Singlet Oxygen to Produce Hydrogen Peroxide
Galina G. Kramarenko, Stephen G. Hummel, Sean M. Martin, and Garry R. Buettner*
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=2147043&blobtype=pdf
Conclusions. Singlet oxygen is very electrophilic and reacts readily with reducing agents, such as ascorbate. Here we have demonstrated that this reaction is due to chemical quenching yielding H2O2. The stoichiometry is most likely 1 1O2: 1 H2O2.
The early observation of this reaction appears to have underestimated the amount of H2O2 produced [9]. That study was done before the importance of adventitious catalytic metals in reactions of ascorbate and H2O2 was fully appreciated by the scientific community. The combination of redox active catalytic metals and ascorbate will both produce and destroy H2O2 [22]. An additional consideration, is that catalase was used as a tool to estimate the amount of H2O2 formed in the system. Catalase compound-I reacts readily with ascorbate and will not return oxygen [23]. The high level of ascorbate in the early experiments would also contribute to an underestimate of total amount of H2O2 generated.
The very fast reaction of ascorbate with singlet oxygen and its high concentration in the water space of cells suggests that it could be an important sink for 1O2 in vivo. The product of the reaction is H2O2, another oxidant. However, there are several enzyme systems that can remove H2O2. This includes catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and the peroxiredoxins. Thus, this additional H2O2 can be detoxified, whereas there are no enzymes systems that directly act on 1O2 in a beneficial way. That AscH- reacts with 1O2 to produce H2O2 stoichiometrically will help in understanding the biological consequences of generation of singlet oxygen.
cercare iron overload
http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/140/10/846-a.pdf
cmq, per ribattere all'appunto di cui sopra, l'ac. ascorbico aumenta l'assorbimento del ferro non-eme quindi non di quello contenuto nella carne ma di quello contenuto negli alimenti di origine vegetale. E' altresì vero che un moderato consumo di agenti chelanti (polifenoli, fitati e ossalati) contenuto in genere in frutta e verdure contribuisce all'omeostasi qualora il ferro assorbito sia eccessivo. Cmq i casi di intossicazione marziale sono rari e come è riportato negli annali, una signora prima di sviluppare una tal condizione (su cui non si può incolpare l'ac. ascorbico) ha assunto per anni 15 g di ac. ascorbico + 300mg e più di ferro-sulfossido per 27 anni!!!. Gli autori ipotizzano tuttavia che sia stata la menopausa (e il conseguente aumento nell'accumulazione tissutale di ferro dovuto all'assenza della perdita del sangue mestruale e del relativo ferro in esso contenuto) piuttosto che l'ac. ascorbico in sé il vero responsabile: altrimenti l'intossicazione sarebbe occorsa molto prima.
Ricordo che nei regimi vegetariani è essenziale supplementare adeguate quantità di ac. ascorbico in modo da sopperire alla mancanza del ferro non eme e aumentare di svariate volte l'assorbimento del ferro non-eme.
contatto facebook: juliensorel@fastwebnet.it