Abstract
African Americans have disproportionate levels of cardiovascular disease and oxidative stress. The purpose of our study was to examine racial differences between African American and Caucasian adults in time-course oxidative stress responses to a treadmill test. After a 12-hr fast, 18 participants (9 of each ethnic group; 21 ± 0.4 yrs) completed a submaximal treadmill test and underwent serial blood draws: Pre, Post (within 2 min), 30, 60, and 120 min after exercise. At each time-point, superoxide dismutase (SOD, U/mL), total antioxidant capacity (TAC, mM), protein carbonyls (PC, nmol/mg), and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARs, μmol/L) were measured. We found no difference between groups for blood pressure, BMI, or exercise capacity (as measured by volume of oxygen consumed, VO(2) max). African Americans had significantly (p < 0.05) higher SOD (Pre: 5.45 ± 0.4 vs. 3.69 ± 0.69; 60 min: 8.99 ± 0.7 vs. 4.23 ± 0.6; 120 min: 9.69 ± 1.6 vs. 3.52 ± 0.7), TAC (Pre: 2.31 ± 0.25 vs. 1.16 ± 0.3; Post: 2.39 ± 0.2 vs. 1.34 ± 0.2; 30 min: 2.29 ± 0.2 vs. 1.09 ± 0.2), and PC (Pre: 1.09 ± 0.1 vs. 0.82 ± 0.1; Post: 1.14 ± 0.1 vs. 0.81 ± 0.1; 30 min: 1.13 ± 0.1 vs. 0.85 ± 0.1; 60 min: 1.06 ± 0.1 vs. 0.81 ± 0.05), but not TBARs. Between groups, only SOD exhibited a different time-course response: levels for African Americans rose steadily throughout the 120 min, while levels for Caucasians peaked at 30 min and by 120 min had returned to pre-exercise levels. Race had a greater effect on oxidative stress responses than submaximal exercise did. African Americans had significantly higher TAC, SOD, and PC levels compared to Caucasians.