Cited by 118Exercise and Physiological ResponsesAntioxidant Activity and Oxidative StressVitamin C and Antioxidants Research

Influence of vitamin C and vitamin E on redox signaling: implications for exercise adaptations

Open access
Cobley, James N., McHardy, Helen, Morton, James P., Nikolaidis, Michalis G., Close, Graeme L.·2015·Free Radical Biology and Medicine

Abstract

The exogenous antioxidants vitamin C (ascorbate) and vitamin E (α-tocopherol) often blunt favorable cell signaling responses to exercise, suggesting that redox signaling contributes to exercise adaptations. Current theories posit that this antioxidant paradigm interferes with redox signaling by attenuating exercise-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) generation. The well-documented in vitro antioxidant actions of ascorbate and α-tocopherol and characterization of the type and source of the ROS/RNS produced during exercise theoretically enable identification of redox-dependent mechanisms responsible for the blunting of favorable cell signaling responses to exercise. This review aimed to apply this reasoning to determine how the aforementioned antioxidants might attenuate exercise-induced ROS/RNS production. The principal outcomes of this analysis are (1) neither antioxidant is likely to attenuate nitric oxide signaling either directly (reaction with nitric oxide) or indirectly (reaction with derivatives, e.g., peroxynitrite); (2) neither antioxidant reacts appreciably with hydrogen peroxide, a key effector of redox signaling; (3) ascorbate but not α-tocopherol has the capacity to attenuate exercise-induced superoxide generation; and (4) alternate mechanisms, namely pro-oxidant side reactions and/or reduction of bioactive oxidized macromolecule adducts, are unlikely to interfere with exercise-induced redox signaling. Out of all the possibilities considered, ascorbate-mediated suppression of superoxide generation with attendant implications for hydrogen peroxide signaling is arguably the most cogent explanation for blunting of favorable cell signaling responses to exercise. However, this mechanism is dependent on ascorbate accumulating at sites rich in NADPH oxidases, principal contributors to contraction-mediated superoxide generation, and outcompeting nitric oxide and superoxide dismutase isoforms. The major conclusions of this review are: (1) direct evidence for interference of ascorbate and α-tocopherol with exercise-induced ROS/RNS production is lacking; (2) theoretical analysis reveals that both antioxidants are unlikely to have a major impact on exercise-induced redox signaling; and (3) it is worth considering alternate redox-independent mechanisms.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2015.03.018

Cites

202 of 202 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • There could be a case for some polyphenolic compounds, such as tart cherry juice, to be supplemented post-exercise to attenuate muscle soreness, although whether this is through a direct scavenging effect remains unclear.

    “There could also be a case for some polyphenolic compounds to be supplemented post-exercise, such as tart cherry juice [163] to attenuate muscle soreness although if this is through a direct scavenging effect remains unclear (see point 2 above and reference [148] for criteria that need to fulfilled to satisfy a scavenging affect).”
  • Exercise-induced disruptions in skeletal muscle homeostasis regulate exercise adaptations with repeated activation.

    “It is now well recognized that exercise-induced disruptions in skeletal muscle homeostasis regulate exercise adaptations with repeated activation [148,149] (Figure 1)”
  • Repeated exercise bouts (training) induce disruption in skeletal muscle homeostasis that regulate training adaptations.

    “It is accepted that repeated exercise bouts (i.e. training) induce disruption in skeletal muscle homeostasis that regulate training adaptations [62,63].”

    From Sleep and Nutrition Interactions: Implications for Athletes (2019) · cites this paper as [63]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

1 retracted

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Winterbourn, C.C. Are free radicals involved in thiol-based redox signalling? Free Radic Biol Med. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiolmed.2014.08.017i; 2014. · DOI
  2. Halliwell, B.; Gutteridge, J.M.C. Free Radicals in Biology & Medicine. Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press: Oxford; 2007.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Cobley, J. N., McHardy, H., Morton, J. P., Nikolaidis, M. G., & Close, G. L.
Affiliations
  • Abertay University (GB)
  • Liverpool John Moores University (GB)
  • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR)
Corresponding author
Cobley, James N.
Venue
Free Radical Biology and Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-07
Volume
84
Pages
65-76
ISSN
0891-5849 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2016974821
Cited by
118
References
202
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 2
FWCI
1.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Free Radical Biology and Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (submittedVersion)
  • Abertay Research Portal (Abertay University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
Carnegie Trust (R70103)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Vitamin C and Antioxidants Research
Keywords
vitamin C, vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol, redox signaling, exercise adaptation, reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species, superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide signaling, peroxynitrite, NADPH oxidase, superoxide dismutase, antioxidants
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Physiological, Animals, Antioxidants, Ascorbic Acid, Humans, Oxidation-Reduction, Vitamin E, Signal Transduction, Exercise, Reactive Oxygen Species, Oxidative Stress, Reactive Nitrogen Species

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review