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Published on: March 23, 2011
Improving effects of huperzine A on abnormal lipid peroxidation and superoxide dismutase in aged rats
1State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
Aim:
To study the effects of huperzine A on lipid peroxidation and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and serum of aged rats.
Methods:
The level of lipid peroxidation was determined by thiobarbituric acid reactive substance method and represented as the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in wet tissue. The activity of SOD was determined by xanthine-xanthine oxidase method and represented as the nitrite unit per gram protein in wet tissue.
Results:
The levels of MDA and the manganese-SOD (Mn-SOD) activities in hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and serum of aged male rats were 2.3-2.8 times and 1.8-2.8 times, respectively, higher than those of adult male rats. Huperzine A (0.05 mg/kg, ig) lowered markedly the levels of MDA and the activities of Mn-SOD in aged male rats following 7-14 d consecutive administrations. The MDA levels in hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and serum decreased 44.7-52.8% (7 d) and 52.6-54.7% (14 d). The Mn-SOD activities in hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and serum lowered 25.0 -57.6% (7 d) and 56.0-74.2% (14 d). In adult rats, no marked change was found after 7-14 d consecutive administrations of huperzine A at a dose of 0.05 mg/kg.
Conclusion:
Huperzine A improved the abnormal free radicals in aged rats.