Copper homeostasis and antioxidant defense system in rats with copper deficiency or overload

ARNAL, NATHALIE; ASTIZ, MARIANA; HURTADO DE CATALFO, GRACIELA; ALANIZ, MARIA J.T. DE; MARRA, CARLOS A.

Potrero de los Funes

Congreso; SAIB (Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular) 47 th Annual Meeting; 2011

SAIB (Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular)

Copper (Cu) availability is involved in atherosclerosis and neurodegeneration through changes in the antioxidant defense system (AS). We studied the AS in plasma, brain, liver, testis, hearth, lungs and intestine of Wistar rats fed a semi-synthetic diet Cu-deficient and with different doses of the metal (7 to 35 ppm) added to food and water, or injected intraperitoneally for 5 weeks. Total glutathione (at expense of GSSG) increased in response to Cu overload in all the tissues. Nitric oxide and protein carbonyls were increased (especially in liver). Lipid peroxidation (TBARS) was important in brain, as well as in liver, testis and intestine. Metallothioneins were increased in intestine and liver -and to a lesser extent in the other tissues- while cerulloplasmin increased in all the tissues in a similar magnitude. Glutathione reductase, - peroxidase and catalase were activated by Cu overload in all the tissues being the effect more important in the intraperitoneallyinjected rats than in the orally treated ones. Cu deficiency decreased glutathione peroxidase and superoxidodismutase activities. Ferric reducing ability of plasma and tocopherol levels was modified according with those damages observed in the AS. Results demonstrated that Cu overload caused more alterations than deficiency, and that the acquisition of the metal by parenteral route was more dangerous than the oral one.