title: Natural zeolites chabazite/phillipsite/analcime increase blood levels of antioxidant enzymes.
abstract: Imbalance between reactive oxygen species generation and antioxidant capacity induces a condition known as oxidative stress which is implicated in numerous pathological processes. In this study we evaluated whether natural zeolites chabazite/phillipsite/analcime may affect the levels of different antioxidant enzymes (gluthatione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, gluthatione reductase), total antioxidant status and oxidative stress in 25 clinically healthy men, both non-smokers and smokers. Measurements were performed on whole blood or on plasma samples before (T0) and after 4-weeks zeolites intake (T1). At T1, gluthatione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and gluthatione reductase increased compared to T0 levels, both considering all subjects as joint and after subdivision in non-smokers and smokers. Differently, a reduction in total antioxidant status was observed at T1. Anyway, total antioxidant status resulted higher than the reference values in both groups at each time point. A decrease in lipid peroxidation, a major indicator of oxidative stress assessed by monitoring thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, was also observed in all subjects at T1. Our results suggested that chabazite/phillipsite/analcime may help to counteract oxidative stress in apparently healthy subjects exposed to different oxidative stress risk factors, such as smoking, thus representing a particular kind of food with potential antioxidant properties.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Morfologia Umana a Scienze Biomediche "Città Studi", University of Milan, Via Mangiagalli 31, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giada
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dogliotti
authors.forename: Alexis E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Malavazos
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giacometti
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Solimene
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fanelli
authors.forename: Massimiliano M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Corsi
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dozio