Enzyme Activities Involved in the Degradation of Lipid Peroxides in the Senescence-Accelerated Mouse

Abstract

The activities of enzymes involved in the degradation of lipid peroxides, viz., glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione reductase (GR), and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH), were measured in the erythrocytes, liver, brain, and heart of male SAM-P/1 mice (accelerated senescence-prone mice) over a period from 1 to 10 months after birth in comparison with those of age-matched male SAM-R/1 mice (accelerated senescence-resistant mice). Among the enzyme activities examined, GR activity in SAM-P/1 mice was markedly lower than that in SAM-R/1 mice in the erythrocytes and all organs tested. GST activity in the liver of the former mice was also lower than that of the latter mice. These results would explain, at least in part, the increased level of lipid peroxides in the former mice as compared with that in the latter. It was noted that G-6-PDH activity increased in the erythrocytes and liver of SAM-P/1 mice.