Plasma antioxidant levels before and after intervention by treatment groupa
| Vitamin C group (n = 42) | Mixture group (n = 39) | Placebo group (n = 45) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before intervention | After intervention | Before intervention | After intervention | Before intervention | After intervention | ||||
| Ascorbic acid (mg/dl) | 0.83 ± 0.41b | 1.41 ± 0.28 | 0.68 ± 0.37 | 1.29 ± 0.49 | 0.65 ± 0.37 | 0.65 ± 0.41 | |||
| α-Tocopherol (mg/dl) | 1.31 ± 0.36 | 1.17 ± 0.29 | 1.36 ± 0.42 | 1.82 ± 0.57 | 1.44 ± 0.47 | 1.31 ± 0.61 | |||
| γ-Tocopherol (mg/dl) | 0.34 ± 0.20 | 0.30 ± 0.16 | 0.27 ± 0.14 | 0.19 ± 0.13 | 0.34 ± 0.15 | 0.30 ± 0.15 | |||
a Treatment group changes (before/after): ascorbic acid plasma levels increased significantly after intervention in the vitamin C and mixture groups: P < 0.0001. α-Tocopherol plasma levels increased significantly in the mixture group (P < 0.0001) but not in the vitamin C group. γ-Tocopherol plasma levels decreased significantly only in the mixture group (P < 0.0001). No significant changes were seen in the placebo group. Before intervention, no significant treatment group differences were seen. After intervention, differences were as follows. Ascorbic acid: vitamin C group versus placebo group and mixture versus placebo, P < 0.0001; vitamin C group versus mixture group, P = 0.161. α-Tocopherol: vitamin C group versus placebo group, P = 0.19; mixture group versus placebo group, P < 0.0001; vitamin C group versus mixture group, P < 0.0001. γ-Tocopherol: vitamin c group versus placebo group, P = 0.98; mixture group versus placebo group, P = 0.0004; vitamin C group versus mixture group, P = 0.0005.
b Values are the mean ± SD. To convert values to micromoles/liter, divide by 0.01761 for ascorbic acid, 0.043061 for α-tocopherol, and by 0.041666 for γ-tocopherol.