Open AccessIn Vivo Brain Glutathione is Higher in Older Age and Correlates with Mobility
Author(s) -
Kathleen E. Hupfeld,
Hayden W. Hyatt,
Patricio Jerez,
Mark E. Mikkelsen,
Chris J. Hass,
Richard A.E. Edden,
Rachael D. Seidler,
Eric C. Porges
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
cerebral cortex
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.694
H-Index - 250
eISSN - 1460-2199
pISSN - 1047-3211
DOI - 10.1093/cercor/bhab107
Subject(s) - glutathione , oxidative stress , atrophy , aging brain , brain structure and function , medicine , human brain , psychology , ageing , brain aging , endocrinology , brain size , young adult , senescence , magnetic resonance imaging , neuroscience , cognition , biology , biochemistry , radiology , enzyme
Brain markers of oxidative damage increase with advancing age. In response, brain antioxidant levels may also increase with age, although this has not been well investigated. Here, we used edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy to quantify endogenous levels of glutathione (GSH, one of the most abundant brain antioxidants) in 37 young [mean: 21.8 (2.5) years; 19 female] and 23 older adults [mean: 72.8 (8.9) years; 19 female]. Accounting for age-related atrophy, we identified higher frontal and sensorimotor GSH levels for the older compared with the younger adults. For the older adults only, higher sensorimotor (but not frontal) GSH was correlated with poorer balance and gait. This suggests a regionally specific relationship between higher brain oxidative stress levels and motor performance declines with age. We suggest these findings reflect an upregulation of GSH in response to increasing brain oxidative stress with normal aging. Together, these results provide insight into age differences in brain antioxidant levels and implications for motor function.