2012 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Evaluation of vitamin C dynamics in the brain and its protection effect on neural cell system under the aging and oxidative stress load

Research Project

Project/Area Number	22500672
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Applied health science
Research Institution	Prefectural University of Hiroshima
Principal Investigator	MUTO Norio 県立広島大学, 生命環境学部, 教授 (30112642)
Project Period (FY)	2010 – 2012
Keywords	加齢 / 老化 / ビタミンC / 脳 / 神経細胞
Research Abstract	By using ODS rats having no ability of vitamin C biosynthesis as a human model, the vitamin C dynamics in the brain and its role on the neural cells were evaluated. In the vitamin C-deficient group which mimics the physiological state of aging and oxidative stress, the levels of vitamin C in the serum and peripheral tissues significantly decreased, whereas that in the brain only tended to decrease. This indicates that vitamin C in the brain is retained by the specific mechanism distinct from that in other tissues. Vitamin C is proved to have both a promotion effect on the neural differentiation of PC12 cells and a protection effect on the oxidative stress -induced cell damage. Taken together, it is clearly demonstrated that vitamin C is an essential nutritional factor for regenerating and protecting the neural cells from the aging and oxidative stresses.