EFFECT OF 6 MONTH SUPPLEMENTATION WITH DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF AN ASSOCIATION OF ANTIOXIDANT NUTRIENTS ON BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS AND MARKERS OF THE ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE SYSTEM IN THE ELDERLY

Objectives: To study the effect of supplementation with an association of small physiological amounts of antioxidant nutrients upon biochemi cal parameters and indicators of oxidative stress and antioxidant enzy mes. Design: The study included a double-blind placebo-controlled desi gn. Setting: Nursing homes in different areas in France. Subjects: 575 elderly long term hospitalized subjects aged 65-103 years. Interventi on: Four groups were compared. They received daily: (V) vitamins (vita min E, 15 mg and vitamin C, 120 mg) and beta-carotene, 6 mg; (T) trace elements (zinc, 20 mg, selenium, 100 mu g); (VT) vitamins associated with trace elements; or (P) a placebo. Biological markers of vitamin a nd trace element status, and free radical parameters were measured ini tially and after 6 months of supplementation. Results: An analysis of variance indicated a significant effect of vitamin supplementation on serum alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene and vitamin C, a significant eff ect of trace element supplementation on serum zinc and both a signific ant trace element and a vitamin-trace element interaction on serum sel enium. We observed significant effects of both trace element and vitam in supplementation on GPx activity (P < 0.01), an effect of vitamin su pplementation on SOD activity (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Our results indi cate that short-term supplementation with moderate doses of antioxidan t vitamins and trace elements in elderly subjects clearly improves bot h non-enzymatic (alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene, vitamin C) levels an d enzymatic antioxidant (GPx and SOD) activity.