title: Effect of dietary restriction on serum antioxidant capacity in rats.
abstract: The effects of dietary restriction on serum antioxidant capacities were studied in male Fischer 344 rats. Dietary restriction was started at the age of 6 weeks and consisted of 60% of the mean daily food intake of the ad libitum fed controls. They were killed at 7 and 18 months of age. The antioxidant capacities of whole serum and the non-protein fraction of serum were assessed using the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay with a peroxyl radical generator. Rats that consumed a diet restricted by 40% in calories had significantly lower ORAC activities in whole serum and the non-protein fraction of serum. The decreased serum ORAC activity is seemingly an organism's physiologically appropriate response to reduced oxidative stress through a down-regulation mechanism.
authors.affiliation: US Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service, Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Prior
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Cutler
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Yu