Effects of blueberry extract supplementation on antioxidant activity in chronically stressed rats

Abstract

The study was conducted to elucidate the effects of blueberry(Vaccinium cyanococcus) supplementation on antioxidant enzyme activities in rat blood, skin and brain tissue. Forty‐eight 10‐week‐old male Sprague‐Dawley rats were assigned to four groups (n=12/group); no stress‐normal diet(−CON), stress‐normal diet(+CON), no stress‐normal diet + 5% blueberry water(−BB), and stress‐ normal diet + 5% blueberry water(+BB). The +CON and +BB groups were given the stress during all experimental period and stress scheme was followed the chronic mild stress model. Body weight gain and feed efficiency ratio were decreased in given stress groups compared with non stress groups (p<0.05). Antioxidant activity levels in blueberry supplemented rats tended to increase compared to control groups. The stressed rats groups tended to have low antioxidant levels compared with unstressed rats groups. The superoxide dismutase(SOD) activity in serum and brain was not different among the treatments. The serum glutathione peroxidase activity was the highest in −BB group, but +BB group was lower than +CON(p<0.05). The skin SOD activity was significantly higher in blueberry supplementation groups than that of −CON and +CON groups. The skin catalase activity was higher in blueberry groups(p<0.05). From the findings, blueberry supplementation might provide the protection against oxidative stress induced by chronic stress.