Promotion of the Glutathione Defense System From Aronia Berry Extract With Acute Aerobic Exercise: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Adults.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the protective effects of Aronia melanocarna berry extract (ABE) supplementation against the acute aerobic exercise (AAE) – induced oxidative stress in healthy subjects. METHODS: A 8-week, randomized, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled trial were conducted with 70 healthy middle-aged adults. We assessed a battery of AAE-induced oxidate stress biomarkers at pre-exercise, immediately post-exercise, and 30-min post-exercise. The AAE challenge model, as a treadmill exercise for 30 minutes at 60% VO2max, was applied to load oxidative stress at the end of the study. A linear mixed-effect model was used to test differences of safety and effectiveness between two groups and Pearson's correlation coefficients assessed the statistical association. RESULTS: The AAE-induced time course-dependent oxidative stress was well-observed in the placebo group regarding the glutathione peroxidase activity and glutathione availability for antioxidant defense; and erythrocyte malondialdehyde, interleukin-6, and lactate levels for oxidative damage. Meanwhile, the ABE supplementation improved the glutathione defense system by increasing glutathione availability and glutathione peroxidase activity during exercise and post-exercise recovery periods. In addition, the scatter plot and linear regression analysis revealed strong negative correlations of GSH availability with oxidized LDL and erythrocyte malonaldehyde levels. CONCLUSIONS: These finding suggest ABE supplementation might affect to improve antioxidant defense mechanism in healthy adults with low fruit and vegetable intake. FUNDING SOURCES: This research was supported by the BK21 FOUR (Fostering Outstanding Universities for Research) funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE, Korea) and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), and the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science & ICT (2012M3A9C4048761).