The effects of vitamin C supplementation on oxidative stress and antioxidant content in the brains of chronically exercised rats

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether vitamin C supplementation during chronic exercise training alters rat brain antioxidant content. Female Wistar albino rats were exercised on a treadmill for 30 min/day for 6.5 weeks and were administered daily intraperitoneal injections of vitamin C (20 mg/kg). After the training period, chronically exercised rats showed no significant changes in total brain thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels. In contrast, rats supplemented with vitamin C during the training period showed significantly elevated brain TBARS levels. If such results were extrapolated to man, where vitamin supplementation is a common practice, this would indicate that vitamin C supplementation may not protect brain tissue against exercise-induced oxidative damage, in such circumstances, this water-soluble antioxidant behaves as a pro-oxidant.