Oxidative Stress in Aged Rats

Background: aging is one of the major problems that the world is facing today due to its impact on all areas of society. Objective: to determine the concentrations of advanced oxidation protein products and malondialdehyde as indicators of oxidative damage and to determine the antioxidant defense capacity of the enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase and the reduced glutathione concentration in aged rats. Methods: a total of 20 male Wistar rats with a body weight of approximately 200 to 250 grams were selected to form two groups with 10 young adult rats and 10 old rats. 2 ml of blood was drawn from the paranasal sinus. The sample was collected in 5 ml vials and after being homogenized, it was sent to the Biomedical Research Center, where it was used to assess the following oxidative stress variables: degree of oxidative damage and antioxidant defense level. An analysis of variance was performed to study the behavior of the different groups. Differences were considered significant when P value was less than 0.05. Results: no significant changes were found in the concentrations of malondialdehyde and glutathione, as well as in the superoxide dismutase and catalase activity in aged rats compared to young. Concentration of advanced oxidation protein products increased significantly in aged rats. Conclusions: aged rats showed an increase in oxidative damage to proteins. Antioxidant defense capacity of the enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase and reduced glutathione concentration showed no changes.