Women with endometriosis improved their peripheral antioxidant markers after the application of a high antioxidant diet

Jennifer Mier-Cabrera, Jennifer Mier‐Cabrera, Tania Aburto-Soto, Tania C Aburto, Soraya Burrola‐Méndez, Soraya Burrola-Méndez, Luis Jiménez-Zamudio, L Jiménez-Zamudio, Mari C Tolentino, Maricruz Tolentino‐Dolores, Esther Casanueva, César Hernández-Guerrero, César Hernández‐Guerrero
Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2009 · vol. 7(1) , pp. 54 · doi:10.1186/1477-7827-7-54 · PMID:19476631 · PMC2693127 · W2160198345
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Women with endometriosis consumed fewer antioxidants and showed improved peripheral antioxidant markers and reduced oxidative stress after a four-month high antioxidant diet intervention.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 ⓘ

This study compared antioxidant intake and oxidative stress biology in women with endometriosis (n=83) versus women without endometriosis (n=80) using food frequency questionnaires, then tested whether a high antioxidant diet (designed to provide elevated vitamin A, C, and E intakes) would change peripheral oxidative stress and antioxidant markers over four months. After two months, women with endometriosis who received the high antioxidant diet showed increased serum retinol, alpha-tocopherol, leukocyte and plasma ascorbate, and antioxidant enzyme activity (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase), alongside decreased oxidative stress markers (malondialdehyde and lipid hydroperoxides), whereas these changes were not seen in the control diet group. The paper also reports that women with endometriosis had lower baseline intake of vitamins A, C, and E and the minerals zinc and copper than women without endometriosis, with no significant group difference for selenium. A stated caveat is that participants were excluded if they had inflammatory pelvic disease, autoimmune or endocrine/metabolic disorders, tobacco/alcohol use, or multivitamin supplement use, which limits generalizability. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it evaluates whether a high-antioxidant diet alters peripheral oxidative stress and antioxidant biomarkers in women with endometriosis.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress has been identified in the peritoneal fluid and peripheral blood of women with endometriosis. However, there is little information on the antioxidant intake for this group of women. The objectives of this work were 1) to compare the antioxidant intake among women with and without endometriosis and 2) to design and apply a high antioxidant diet to evaluate its capacity to reduce oxidative stress markers and improve antioxidant markers in the peripheral blood of women with endometriosis. METHODS: Women with (WEN, n = 83) and without endometriosis (WWE, n = 80) were interviewed using a Food Frequency Questionnaire to compare their antioxidant intake (of vitamins and minerals). Then, the WEN participated in the application of a control (n = 35) and high antioxidant diet (n = 37) for four months. The high antioxidant diet (HAD) guaranteed the intake of 150% of the suggested daily intake of vitamin A (1050 microg retinol equivalents), 660% of the recommended daily intake (RDI) of vitamin C (500 mg) and 133% of the RDI of vitamin E (20 mg). Oxidative stress and antioxidant markers (vitamins and antioxidant enzymatic activity) were determined in plasma every month. RESULTS: Comparison of antioxidant intake between WWE and WEN showed a lower intake of vitamins A, C, E, zinc, and copper by WEN (p < 0.05, Mann Whitney Rank test). The selenium intake was not statistically different between groups. During the study, the comparison of the 24-hour recalls between groups showed a higher intake of the three vitamins in the HAD group. An increase in the vitamin concentrations (serum retinol, alpha-tocopherol, leukocyte and plasma ascorbate) and antioxidant enzyme activity (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) as well as a decrease in oxidative stress markers (malondialdehyde and lipid hydroperoxides) were observed in the HAD group after two months of intervention. These phenomena were not observed in the control group. CONCLUSION: WEN had a lower intake of antioxidants in comparison to WWE. Peripheral oxidative stress markers diminished, and antioxidant markers were enhanced, in WEN after the application of the HAD.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Antioxidants Antioxidants Biomarkers Endometriosis Endometriosis Adult alpha-Tocopherol alpha-Tocopherol Antioxidants Biomarkers Endometriosis Female Follow-Up Studies Fruit Glutathione Peroxidase Glutathione Peroxidase Humans Leukocytes Leukocytes Nutrition Assessment

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