Catalase

Stress is one of the basic factors in the etiology of number of diseases. The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of Triphala (Terminalia chebula, Terminalia belerica and Emblica officinalis) on noise-stress induced alterations in the antioxidant status and on the cell-mediated immune response in Wistar strain male albino rats. Noise-stress employed in this study was 100 dB for 4 h/d/15 days and Triphala was used at a dose of 1 g/kg/b.w/48 days.

We evaluated the preventive effects of Terminalia chebula (T. chebula) aqueous extract on oxidative and antioxidative status in liver and kidney of aged rats compared to young albino rats. The concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), lipofuscin (LF), protein carbonyls (PCO), activities of xantione oxidase (XO), manganese-superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), levels of glutathione (GSH), vitamin C and vitamin E were used as biomarkers.

Waterlogging is associated with poor soil drainage. As a consequence oxygen levels decrease in the root environment inducing root asphyxia and affecting plant growth. Some plants can survive under these conditions triggering complex anatomical and biochemical adaptations, mostly in the roots.

Recent work on a small European cave salamander (Proteus anguinus) has revealed that it has exceptional longevity, yet it appears to have unexceptional defences against oxidative damage. This paper comes at the end of a string of other studies that are calling into question the free-radical damage theory of ageing. This theory rose to prominence in the 1990s as the dominant theory for why we age and die. Despite substantial correlative evidence to support it, studies in the last five years have raised doubts over its importance.

The peroxisome is functionally integrated into an exquisitely complex network of communicating endomembranes which is only beginning to be appreciated. Despite great advances in identifying essential components and characterizing molecular mechanisms associated with the organelle's biogenesis and function, there is a large gap in our understanding of how peroxisomes are incorporated into metabolic pathways and subcellular communication networks, how they contribute to cellular aging, and where their influence is manifested on the initiation and progression of degenerative disease.

Restriction of energy intake (ER), without malnutrition of essential nutrients, has repeatedly been demonstrated to increase longevity in rodents. In the antioxidant theory of aging the lack of balance between the generation of free radicals and free radical scavenging was thought to be a main causal agent, in the aging process. From this point of view the antiaging effect induced by ER might be due to the lower rate of free-radical production and related damage induced by a lower metabolic rate. The antiaging effects of ER might also occur in humans.

The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging (MFRTA) proposes that mitochondrial free radicals, produced as by-products during normal metabolism, cause oxidative damage. According to MFRTA, the accumulation of this oxidative damage is the main driving force in the aging process. Although widely accepted, this theory remains unproven, because the evidence supporting it is largely correlative. For example, long-lived animals produce fewer free radicals and have lower oxidative damage levels in their tissues. However, this does not prove that free radical generation determines life span.

Diet restriction of rodents during adult life is known to cause an increased life span. It has been hypothesised that this increase may be related to effects on the anti-oxidant defence systems. However, it has been suggested that undernutrition during the gestation and pre-weaning may reduce their life span as it is known to have other deleterious effects on a rodent's growth and development.

Caloric restriction (CR) extends lifespan through a reduction in oxidative stress, delays the onset of morbidity and prolongs lifespan. We previously reported that long-term CR hastened clinical onset, disease progression and shortened lifespan, while transiently improving motor performance in G93A mice, a model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that shows increased free radical production.

Black rice is rich in anthocyanin antioxidants. The present study investigated the lifespan-prolonging activity of black rice extracts (BREs) and its effect on gene expressions of CuZnSOD (SOD1), MnSOD (SOD2), catalase (CAT), methuselah (Mth) and Rpn11 involved in the antioxidant system and ageing of fruit flies. The OR wild type fly was maintained on a control diet or two experimental diets containing 10 mg ml(-1) BRE (BRE10) or 30 mg ml(-1) BRE (BRE30).