Antioxidant capacity and concentration of redox-active trace mineral in fully weaned intra-uterine growth retardation piglets

Background： The redox status of intra-uterine growth retardation（IUGR） piglets post-weaning has been poorly studied.Methods： Newborns from twenty-four sows were weighted, weaned at 21 d and fed a starter diet until sampling.Sampling was done at 14 d post-weaning. A piglet was defined as IUGR when its birth weight was 2 SD below the mean birth weight of the total population. At weaning, eighteen piglets with nearly equal body weight from each category（i.e. IUGR or normal birth weight（NBW） piglets） were selected and then allocated to two treatments,consisted of six replicates with each pen having three piglets.Results： Compared with NBW group, IUGR significantly decreased average daily gain（P 〈 0.001）, average daily feed intake（P = 0.003）, and feed efficiency（P 〈 0.001） of piglets during the first two weeks post-weaning. IUGR decreased the activities of total antioxidant capacity（P = 0.019）, total superoxide dismutase（T-SOD, P = 0.023）,and ceruloplasmin（P = 0.044） but increased the levels of malondialdehyde（P = 0.040） and protein carbonyl（P = 0.010） in plasma. Similarly, the decreased activities of T-SOD（P = 0.005）, copper- and zinc-containing superoxide dismutase（Cu/Zn-SOD, P = 0.002）, and catalase（P = 0.049） was observed in the liver of IUGR piglets than these of NBW piglets. IUGR decreased hepatic Cu/Zn-SOD activity（P = 0.023） per unit of Cu/Zn-SOD protein in piglets when compared with NBW piglets. In addition, IUGR piglets exhibited the decreases in accumulation of copper in both plasma（P = 0.001） and liver（P = 0.014）, as well as the concentrations of iron（P = 0.002） and zinc（P = 0.048） in liver. Compared with NBW, IUGR down-regulated m RNA expression of Cu/Zn-SOD（P = 0.021） in the liver of piglets.Conclusions： The results indicated that IUGR impaired antioxidant capacity and resulted in oxidative damage in fully weaned piglets, which might be associated with the decreased levels of redox-active trace minerals. This study highlights the importance of redox status in IUGR offspring and provides a rationale for alleviating oxidative damage by dietary interventions aiming to supplement trace minerals and to restore redox balance in the future.

Oxidative capacities of size-segregated haze particles in a residential area of Beijing

The frequent haze days around the Chinese capital of Beijing in recent years have aroused great attention owing to the detrimental effects on visibility and public health. To discover the potential health effects of the haze, oxidative capacities of airborne particles collected in Beijing during haze and clear days were comparably assessed by a plasmid scission assay. Eleven water-soluble trace elements （As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, Se, T1, and Zn） in the size-segregated airborne particles were quantitatively analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and most of the water- soluble trace elements were found to mainly concentrate in the fine particle size of 0.56-1.0 μm. In comparison with clear days, the mass concentrations of 11 analyzed water-soluble trace elements remarkably increased during haze days, and the oxidative capacities determined by the plasmid scission assay were markedly elevated accordingly during the haze days under the same dosage of particles as for those during clear days. Water-soluble trace elements in airborne particles, such as Cu, V, and particularly Zn, were found to have significantly positive correlations with the plasmid DNA damage rates. Because Cu, V, and Zn have been considered as bioavailable elements, the evident increase of these elements during haze days may be greatly harmful to human health.