EFFECTS OF MELATONIN AND ACETYL L-CARNITINE ON BIOCHEMICAL AND BEHAVIORAL PARAMETERS OF BRAIN AGING
E. H. Sharman, N. D. Vaziri, Z. Ni, K. G. Sharman, S. C. Bondy
Department of Community and Environmental Medicine,
University of California,
Irvine, CA 92697-1825
The potential utility of dietary supplementation in
order to prevent some of the oxidative and inflammatory
changes occurring in the brain with age, has been studied.
The cerebral cortex of 27-month-old male B6C3F1 mice had
elevated levels of nitric oxide synthase 1 (nNOS) and
peptide nitrotyrosine relative to cortices of younger
(4-month-old) animals. After 25-month-old mice received
basal diet together with 300 mg/l acetyl L-carnitine in
the drinking water for 8 weeks, these levels were fully
restored to those found in younger animals. A partial
restoration was found when old animals received basal diet
supplemented with 200 ppm melatonin in the diet. Levels of
mRNA (messenger RNA) for nNOS were unchanged following
these treatments implying translational regulation of nNOS
activity. Behavioral indices indicative of exploratory behavior
were also depressed in aged animals. Dietary
supplementation with melatonin or acetyl L-carnitine
partially reversed these changes. These findings suggest
that dietary supplementation cannot merely arrest but
indeed reverse some age-related increases in markers of
oxidative and inflammatory events occurring with the cortex.
Key words:
melatonin, acetyl L-carnitine, nitric oxide synthase, nitrotyrosine, aging
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