Open AccessL-malate reverses oxidative stress and antioxidative defenses in liver and heart of aged rats
Author(s) -
Wu Jl,
QP Wu,
X L Yang,
MK Wei,
Zhang Jm,
Qingyao Huang,
Zhou Xy
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
physiological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.647
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1802-9973
pISSN - 0862-8408
DOI - 10.33549/physiolres.931161
Subject(s) - oxidative stress , lipid peroxidation , antioxidant , superoxide dismutase , glutathione , glutathione peroxidase , medicine , endocrinology , chemistry , reactive oxygen species , biochemistry , enzyme , biology
The intracellular levels of antioxidant and free radical scavengingenzymes are gradually altered during the aging process. An agedependent increase of oxidative stress occurring throughout thelifetime is hypothesized to be the major cause of aging. Thecurrent study examined the effects of L-malate on oxidativestress and antioxidative defenses in the liver and heart of agedrats. Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into fourgroups, each group consisting of 6 animals. Group Ia and GroupIIa were young and aged control rats. Group Ib and Group IIbwere young and aged rats treated with L-malate (210 mg/kgbody weight per day). L-malate was orally administrated viaintragastric canula for 30 days, then the rats were sacrificed andthe liver and heart were removed to determine the oxidantproduction, lipid peroxidation and antioxidative defenses ofyoung and aged rats. Dietary L-malate reduced the accumulationof reactive oxygen species (ROS) and significantly decreased thelevel of lipid peroxidation in the liver and heart of the aged rats.Accordingly, L-malate was found to enhance the antioxidativedefense system with an increased activity of antioxidantenzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathioneperoxidase (GPx) and increased glutathione (GSH) levels in theliver of aged rats, a phenomenon not observed in the heart ofaged rats. Our data indicate that oxidative stress was reversedand the antioxidative defense system was strengthened bydietary supplementation with L-malate.