Age-associated alterations of lipofuscin, membrane-bound ATPases and intracellular calcium in cortex, striatum and hippocampus of rat brain: protective role of glutathione monoester

Brain aging has become an area of intense research and a subject of much speculation fueled largely from the widely recognized fact that age is the biggest risk factor in most neurodegenerative diseases and age-related increase of reactive oxygen species is particularly detrimental to postmitotic tissues. In the present study, we have evaluated the possible role of glutathione monoester (GME), when administered intraperitoneally (12 mg/kg body weight) for 20 days on age-associated changes in the levels of lipofuscin, Na⁺K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺ ATPase activities and intracellular calcium levels in discrete brain regions of young and aged male albino Wistar rats. An age-associated increase in lipofuscin, intracellular calcium in cortex, striatum and hippocampus was observed and contradictorily, a decrease in the activities of membrane-bound enzyme activities was also observed. Supplementation of GME brought these changes to near normalcy. Thus, GME improves neuronal antioxidant status, thereby effectively attenuating any putative increase in oxidative stress with age.