Malondialdehyde and measures of antioxidant activity in subjects from the Belfast Elderly Longitudinal Free-living Aging Study.
Glutathione and glutathione peroxidase activity are important components in the complex body defense against oxidative damage. In this study, we have measured malondialdehyde (MDA) as a marker of oxidative stress, the antioxidant glutathione (GSH), and activity of the antioxidant enzyme (GSHPx), in a cohort of free-living elderly subjects from the Belfast Elderly Longitudinal Free-living Aging STudy (BELFAST), hypothesizing that free-living Senieur-approximated nonagenarians might demonstrate enhanced antioxidant defense mechanisms. The main finding in the BELFAST octo/nonagenarians was that plasma antioxidant glutathione increased in nonagenarian compared with septo/octogenarian subjects (P =.015), whereas conversely antioxidant glutathione peroxidase activity fell in the nonagenarian group (P <.0001). In the same subject group, malondialdehyde, a measure of lipid peroxidation, showed no change across the age groups (P =.73). These results might overall represent a situation in which elderly survivors in the BELFAST study have evolved a sort of free radical/antioxidant equilibrium as a mechanism of successful aging.
Rea
I M
IM
Department of Geriatric Medicine, Whitla Medical Building, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, United Kingdom. i.rea@qub.ac.uk
McMaster
D
D
Donnelly
J
J
McGrath
L T
LT
Young
I S
IS
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005609:Free Radicals; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism*; D009660:Northern Ireland
D000975:Antioxidants; D005609:Free Radicals; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase; D005978:Glutathione