| Disease | THE CHEMOPREVENTIVE EFFECTS OF ANTIOXIDANTS (VITAMIN E, BETA-CAROTENE, VITAMIN C AND RED GINSENG) ON OXIDATIVE DNA AND PROTEIN (GLOBIN) DAMAGES WERE COMPARATIVELY INVESTIGATED IN THE PERIPHERAL BLOOD OF SMOKERS (<20 CIGARETTS/DAY). SMOKERS
SHOWED A LOWER BASELINE LEVEL OF PLASMA MICRONUTRIENTS (VITAMIN C AND B-CAROTENE) (P<0.01) AND HIGHER BASELINE LEVELS OF OXIDATIVE DNA OR PROTEIN DAMAGE THAN NON-SMOKERS (N = 5; P< 0.05). DURING DAILY SUPPLEMENTATION OF ANTIOXIDANTS (200 IU
VITAMIN E, 9 MG OF BETA-CAROTENE, 500 MG OF VITAMIN C, OR 1.8 G OF RED GINSENG) FOR 4 WEEKS, SMOKERS PLASMA ANTIOXIDANT CONCENTRATIONS INCREASED LINEARLY, WHILE THEIR MEAN LEVELS OF 8-HYDROXYDEOXYGUANOSINE (8-OHDG) AND CARBONYL CONTENTS
DECREASED COMPARED WITH THOSE IN SMOKERS SUPPLEMENTED WITH A PLACEBO (P<0.05). LEVELS OF URINARY AND PLASMA COTININE TIME-DEPENDENT MANNER (AS THE TOTAL INTAKE DOSE INCREASED) AFTER SUPPLEMENTATION WITH VITAMIN E (8-OHDG, 33.8%; CARBONYL
CONTENT, 43.6%) OR RED GINSENG (8-OHDG, 31.7%; CARBONYL CONTENT 21.3%). THESE PRELIMINARY DATA SUGGEST THAT SUPPLEMENTATION WITH ANTIOXIDANTS MIGHT PROTECT SMOKERS FROM OXIDATIVE DAMAGES AND COULD REDUCE CANCER RISK OR OTHER DISEASES CAUSED BY
FREE RADICALS ASSOCIATED WITH SMOKING. |