Date of Submission
5-4-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Advisor
Alireza Senejani
Keywords
oxidative stress, heat stress, cell death, vitamin c, vitamin d, zinc gluconate
MeSH
asorbic acid, vitamin d, gluconic acid, folic acid, cell death, oxidative stress, heat-shock response
LCSH
vitamin c, vitamin d, folic acid, cell death, oxidative stress, heat--physiological effect
Abstract
When cells are exposed to stress, they will either choose a protective pathway or a destructive pathway to either repair and stay alive or automatically die to avoid becoming a threat to the organism, depending on the severity of the stress. Extensive cell stress can lead to tissue damage, causing many disorders such as degenerative diseases, which is why diving into research focused on identifying supplements that can counteract these effects is beneficial for the collective health of the public. The most common type of cell stressors are oxidative stress, mainly caused by free radicals, and heat stress, caused by increased body temperatures. The aim of this thesis was to analyze the effects of different supplements on protecting mammalian cells by comparing the different effects that supplements vitamin C, vitamin D3, zinc gluconate, and folic acid can have on reducing the damaging effects of cell stress, and indicate which supplement is best for cell protection. To achieve this, a mammalian cll line, HEK-293, was cultured, treated with six different doses of a respective supplement, and exposed to oxidative stress through the addition of 50
When cells are exposed to stress, they will either choose a protective pathway or a destructive pathway to either repair and stay alive or automatically die to avoid becoming a threat to the organism, depending on the severity of the stress. Extensive cell stress can lead to tissue damage, causing many disorders such as degenerative diseases, which is why diving into research focused on identifying supplements that can counteract these effects is beneficial for the collective health of the public. The most common types of cell stressors are oxidative stress, mainly caused by free radicals, and heat stress, caused by increased body temperatures. The aim of this thesis was to analyze the effects of different supplements on protecting mammalian cells by comparing the different effects that supplements vitamin C, vitamin D3, zinc gluconate, and folic acid can have on reducing the damaging effects of cell stress, and indicate which supplement is best for cell protection. To achieve this, a mammalian cell line, HEK-293, was cultured, treated with six different doses of a respective supplement, and exposed to oxidative stress through the addition of 50μM hydrogen peroxide or heat stress through incubation at 38.5ºC. Oxidative stress and heat stress, along with respective control trials, were performed for each of the supplements, and the tolerance to each cell stress was determined by performing cell viability assays using alamarBlue Cell Viability measurement. The recorded absorbances from the assay were used for comparing the cell viability of each concentration of every supplement with both each other and their corresponding controls. This study concluded that vitamin C was the most effective at protecting cells exposed from oxidative stress, while both vitamin C and vitamin D were the most effective at reducing heat stress mortality. Future experiments can look at different concentrations, alternative supplements, various cell types, or diverse levels and types of cellular stress to determine the full range of effectiveness of these supplements
Recommended Citation
Faiola, Chiara, "Assessing the Protective Role of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc Gluconate, and Folic Acid against Cell Damage and Mortality caused by Oxidative and Heat Stress" (2024). Honors Theses. 81.
https://digitalcommons.newhaven.edu/honorstheses/81