Effect of Starvation on Antioxidant Enzymes and Respiratory Mitochondrial Functions in Kidney and Liver from Rats

Abstract

The influence of the nutritional status on the antioxidant defence system and on the mitochondrial respiratory functions of rat kidney and liver was studied. For that purpose, the antioxidant enzymes catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, glutathione S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, the total glutathione and the respiration rates of states 3 and 4, the respiratory control ratio, and ADP/O ratio were measured before and after 2 and 4 days of starvation. The behaviour of the enzymes was not uniform. Only the liver glutathione peroxidase decreased by about 18% at second day of starvation, whereas all other enzymes in liver and kidney increased or remained unchanged. All mitochondrial parameters studied remained unaffected by starvation except the moderately reduced state 3 respiration and respiratory control ratio in liver mitochondria. We conclude from our experimental data that the enzymatic antioxidative status is of minor importance for the assumed vulnerability of kidney and liver after short-term starvation.