title: Hypobaric hypoxia induces oxidative stress in rat brain.
abstract: High altitude exposure results in decreased partial pressure of oxygen and an increased formation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), which causes oxidative damage to lipids, proteins and DNA. Exposure to high altitude appears to decrease the activity and effectiveness of antioxidant enzyme system. The antioxidant system is very less in brain tissue and is very much susceptible to hypoxic stress. The aim of the present study was to investigate the time dependent and region specific changes in cortex, hippocampus and striatum on oxidative stress markers on chronic exposure to hypobaric hypoxia. The rats were exposed to simulated high altitude equivalent to 6100 m in animal decompression chamber for 3 and 7 days. Results indicate an increase in oxidative stress as seen by increase in free radical production, nitric oxide level, lipid peroxidation and lactate dehydrogenase levels. The magnitude of increase in oxidative stress was more in 7 days exposure group as compared to 3 days exposure group. The antioxidant defence system such as reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduced/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) levels were significantly decreased in all the three regions. The observation suggests that the hippocampus is more susceptible to hypoxia than the cortex and striatum. It may be concluded that hypoxia differentially affects the antioxidant status in the cortex, hippocampus and striatum.
authors.affiliation: Applied Physiology Division, Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, Defence Research and Development Organization, Ministry of Defence, Government of India, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi 54, India.
authors.forename: Panchanan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maiti
authors.forename: Shashi B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Alpesh K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muthuraju
authors.forename: Pratul K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ilavazhagan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D005980:Glutathione Reductase / Q000378:metabolism; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D005980:Glutathione Reductase; D005978:Glutathione