title: Ginger and alpha lipoic acid ameliorate age-related ultrastructural changes in rat liver.
abstract: Because of the important role that oxidative stress is thought to play in the aging process, antioxidants could be candidates for preventing its related pathologies. We investigated the ameliorative effects of two antioxidant supplements, ginger and alpha lipoic acid (ALA), on hepatic ultrastructural alterations in old rats. Livers of young (4 months) and old (24 months) Wistar rats were studied using transmission electron microscopy. Livers of old rats showed sinusoidal collapse and congestion, endothelial thickening and defenestration, and inconsistent perisinusoidal extracellular matrix deposition. Aged hepatocytes were characterized by hypertrophy, cytoplasmic vacuolization and a significant increase in the volume densities of the nuclei, mitochondria and dense bodies. Lipofuscin accumulation and decreased microvilli in bile canaliculi and space of Disse also were observed. The adverse alterations were ameliorated significantly by both ginger and ALA supplementation; ALA was more effective than ginger. Ginger and ALA appear to be promising anti-aging agents based on their amelioration of ultrastructural alterations in livers of old rats.
authors.affiliation: a Zoology Department, Faculty of Science , Ain Shams University , Cairo , Egypt.
authors.forename: Y I
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Mahmoud
authors.affiliation: a Zoology Department, Faculty of Science , Ain Shams University , Cairo , Egypt.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Hegazy
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D020939:Zingiber officinale; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D008063:Thioctic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D008063:Thioctic Acid
keywords: aging; alpha lipoic acid; ginger; liver; rat; ultrastructure