Age-related Changes in Glutathione Concentration, Glutathione Peroxidase, Glutathione-S-Transferase, and Superoxide Dismutase Activities in Senescence Accelerated Mice

Abstract

Age-associated changes in several antioxidative factors were studied in blood and liver from mice prone to accelerated senescence aged 0.7 to 1.4 years and mice resistant to accelerated senescence aged 1.0 to 2.1 years. In both strains, activities of hepatic glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) decreased significantly with age, and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), and the concentration of glutathione (GSH) in liver and blood cells tended to decrease with age. The GSH concentration in the plasma and blood cells, and the hepatic GST and SOD activities were significantly lower in the mice prone to senescence than other strain, but the hepatic GSH concentration and GSH-Px activity were similar in the two strains. These results suggest that GSH and hepatic antioxidative enzymes are associated to some extent with senescence in mice with accelerated senescence.