Studies on the life prolonging effect of food restriction: glutathione levels and glyoxalase enzymes in rat liver

Abstract

Cytosolic and mitochondrial levels of glutathione (GSH) as well as the activities of glyoxalase I (GI) and glyoxalase II (GII), GSH-dependent enzymes involved in the detoxification of 2-ketoaldehydes, were investigated in the liver of ad libitum (AL) fed and food restricted (FR) rat during aging. Both cytosolic and mitochondrial GSH level was lower in old than in adult AL fed rats. Food restriction did not prevent this decrease, but its extent was attenuated considering the cytosolic GSH. As regards the mitochondrial GSH, its content was higher in adult FR animals than in the age-matched AL fed ones. Thus, the subsequent age-dependent decrease of GSH, occurring also in FR animals, resulted in a thiol concentration not different from that observed in young and adult AL fed animals. Considering the enzymatic activities, cytosolic GI decreased in old rats irrespective of diet, whereas GII activity remained constant in all the experimental groups. The higher glutathione content found in both cellular compartments of old FR rats as compared to the old AL fed ones, could help to explain the life prolonging effect of FR treatment. Moreover, the observation that the activity of glyoxalases was not influenced by food restriction does not necessarily mean that the cells of diet-conditioned animals are scarcely protected against the toxic effect of methylglyoxal. Indeed, the production of this compound should be lower in FR animals as compared to AL fed ones, due to the lower level serum glucose concentration during the life span of the former with respect to the latter group.