Table 2.
Change in vitamin C intake and ascorbate concentration in body fluids, cells and tissue following supplementation with 50 mg vitamin C or half a kiwifruit per day for six weeks.
| Vitamin C group a (50 mg/day) | Kiwifruit group a (half/day) | Between group | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | Intervention | Washout | Baseline | Intervention | Washout |
Intervention P value b |
|
| 31.2 ± 3.1 | 76.7 ± 2.6 *** | 29.1 ± 2.9 | 28.6 ± 3.1 | 73.4 ± 4.2 *** | 31.4 ± 5.1 | 0.512 | |
| Plasma (µmol/L) | 23.5 ± 2.5 | 51.3 ± 3.5 *** | 34.3 ± 4.4 * | 22.7 ± 2.5 | 45.5 ± 2.5 *** | 30.5 ± 3.1 | 0.860 |
| Urine (µmol/24 h) | 42.8 ± 9.2 | 104.2 ± 27.6 * | 59.5 ± 19.9 | 32.3 ± 8.1 | 70.5 ± 17.0 * | 64.7 ± 29.8 | 0.503 |
| Semen (µmol/L) | 284.8 ±27.0 | 321.0 ± 33.3 | 264.4 ± 31.1 * | 326.3 ± 47.5 | 378.8 ± 42.7 | 237.7 ± 19.6 * | 0.676 |
| Mononuclear cells (nmol/108 cells) | 38.7 ± 6.2 | 84.5 ± 6.3 *** | 78.5 ± 4.3 ** | 60.5 ± 6.1 | 90.9 ± 6.1 ** | 75.2 ± 5.2 | 0.227 |
| Neutrophils (nmol/108 cells) | 21.9 ± 3.1 | 39.6 ± 3.8 ** | 24.9 ± 2.1 | 13.7 ± 2.4 | 30.4 ± 2.5 *** | 24.8 ± 1.7 *** | 0.798 |
| Skeletal muscle (nmol/g) | 14.5 ± 2.0 | 61.3 ± 3.5 *** | nd | 15.1 ± 2.5 | 52.8 ± 5.0 *** | nd | 0.429 |
a Data represent mean ± SEM; b P values were determined by unpaired t-test of vitamin C group versus kiwifruit group post-intervention following subtraction of baseline values; * P < 0.05 and ** P < 0.01 and *** P < 0.001 for paired t-test of intervention versus baseline. nd = not determined.