Effect of vitamin E and eccentric exercise on selected biomarkers of oxidative stress in young and elderly men

Muscle damage resulting from eccentric exercise provides a useful model of oxyradical-induced injury and can be used to examine age-related responses to oxidative stress. Sixteen young (26.4 ± 3.3 years) and 16 older (71.1 ± 4.0 years) healthy men were randomly assigned to 1000 IU/d vitamin E or placebo for 12 weeks and ran downhill for 45 min at 75% VO₂max, once before and following supplementation. Blood samples were obtained before (baseline) and immediately postexercise (0 h), and at 6, 24, and 72 h postexercise to determine antioxidant status, muscle damage, lipid peroxidation, and DNA damage. Following exercise, young and older men experienced similar increases in serum creatine kinase (CK), F₂-isoprostanes (iPF₂; p < .001) and malondialdehyde (MDA; p < .01), although iPF₂ peaked at 72 h postexercise and MDA peaked at 0 h. Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) decreased at 72 h (p < .01) and correlated with the rise in iPF₂, MDA, and CK in the young men (p < .05). Leukocyte 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) was unaffected by exercise. Vitamin E decreased peak CK in young men, while in older men it decreased resting levels of iPF₂ and suppressed the 24 h postexercise increases in iPF₂ (p < .05). Thus, vitamin E supplementation induced modest changes eccentric exercise-induced oxidative stress, although differentially between the young and older subjects, while age had no direct influence on these responses among this group of physically fit subjects.