title: Potential roles for vitamins E and C in combination in modulating exhaustive swimming and high altitude-associated lung injury in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate and compare the potential role of vitamins E and C in protecting against acute swimming induced lung damage at different altitudes.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was carried out between January and March 2011. Eighteen male rats were bred and reared at either high altitude in Abha city or low altitude   in Riyadh city, KSA. The rats were divided into 3 groups: 1) non-stress control, 2) forced swimming stressed, and 3) vitamin E and C pretreated stressed. At the end of the procedure, lung tissue levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In control rats, the baseline levels of TBARS were significantly increased and the baseline levels of both GSH and SOD were significantly decreased in the lungs of animals at high altitude compared with those at low altitude. Acute forced swimming resulted a significant increase in TBARS levels and a significant decrease in activities of SOD and CAT in the lungs in both altitude areas, and resulted in a significant decrease in GSH levels at high altitude rats only as compared with the resting state. Supplementation of vitamins E and C in combination effectively ameliorated all the parameters measured at both altitudes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our novel observations suggest that supplementation of vitamins E and C could be beneficial against exhaustive swimming- and high altitude-associated lung injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, PO Box 641, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. fahaid999@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Fahaid H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Al-Hashem
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D008168:Lung / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D055370:Lung Injury / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism; D013550:Swimming; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D014810:Vitamin E; D002374:Catalase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D005978:Glutathione; D001205:Ascorbic Acid