ROS generation, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities in the aging brain

The objective of this study was to determine the specific relationship between brain aging and changes in the level of oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and in the activities of antioxidant enzymes. We used four different age groups (2–3 months, 10–11 months, 16–17 months and 20–21 months) which represented young adults, adults, beginning senescence and senescence, respectively. Basal levels of LPO products measured as malondialdehyde increased gradually with age in mouse brain homogenate. The extent of stimulated LPO products, however, was clearly decreased in the brain of adult mice compared to young mice but increased again in the brain of senescent mice. We could not detect any appreciable age-related changes in the basal as well as in stimulated levels of ROS measured with the fluorescent dyes dichlorofluorescein and dihydrorhodamine123. Nevertheless, there was a significant delay in the time course of ROS-generation in brain cells from old mice. The activities of the antioxidant enzymes CuZn-superoxide dismutase and glutathione reductase increased with age whereas glutathione peroxidase remained unchanged. On the basis of our present findings, we envisage a potential model that integrates several divergent findings described in the literature about the role of oxidative stress in brain aging.