Food restriction in female Wistar rats. III. Thermotropic transition of membrane lipid and 5'-nucleotidase activity in hepatocytes

Abstract

The effect of diet restriction was measured on the anisotropy parameter of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and 5′-nucleotidase enzyme activity in liver plasma membrane preparates. Diet restriction was applied to rats 3.5 months old on an every-other-day schedule (EOD) and the rats were killed at the age of 28–29 months. Six months and 24 months rats, fed ad libitum (AL), were used as controls. The Arrhenius plots of anisotropy parameter of liver membranes from young, old AL and old EOD animals exhibited well defined breakpoints at 16.3°C, 19.5°C and 16.7°C, respectively. The breakpoint temperature of 5′-nucleotidase activity was lower in samples from young rats as compared to those from old AL rats, whereas no difference was observed comparing young and EOD fed rats. Present results support the hypothesis that diet restriction modifies lipid composition of liver plasma membranes in such a way that the appearance of age-dependent alterations is delayed.