CAP-e Test for Bioavailable Antioxidants
Antioxidant testing of natural products offers a wide range of testing options, but not all are biol
- Demonstrate that antioxidants are present,
- Using the CAP-e antioxidant test, evaluate whether antioxidants can enter into cells and protect cells from free radical damage, indicating bioavailable antioxidants,
- Examine whether other bio-relevant effects may help reduce overall free radical burden, even in cases where a compound is not bioavailable at the cellular level,
- Evaluate clinical effects by testing blood samples in a modified version of the CAP-e assay.
Method
The CAP-e assay is performed by allowing red blood cells (erythrocytes) to absorb antioxidants from a physiological liquid that contains a potential antioxidant product. All compounds that are not absorbed into the cells are then removed. The cells are exposed to oxidative stress. An indicator dye shows the degree of intracellular damage to the cell, in the presence versus absence of serial dilutions of the test product.
What does the antioxidant capacity of a product mean?
- Antioxidant activity may be demonstrated in a given chemical reaction,
- Cellular antioxidant protection (CAP-e) data may show cellular bioavailability,
- Clinical data may show that a product’s antioxidants (or metabolites thereof) found their way into the blood stream.
We specifically developed the CAP-e antioxidant test to help bridge the transition from chemical antioxidant assays (such as ORAC and total phenolics testing) to biological testing in more complex cellular systems. Our CAP-e White Paper explains the development of the CAP-e assay for bioavailable antioxidants and describes various applications in vitro and in vivo/ex vivo.
Other CAP-e pages on this site:
