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Dietary Supplementation of Old Rats with Hydrogenated Peanut Oil Restores Activities of Mitochondrial Respiratory Complexes in Skeletal Muscles


G. E. Bronnikov1*, T. P. Kulagina1, and A. V. Aripovsky2

1Institute of Cell Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142290 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia; fax: (496) 733-0509; E-mail: gennady_bronnikov@rambler.ru

2Scientific Center of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 142279 Obolensk, Moscow Region, Russia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received June 16, 2010; Revision received July 13, 2010
The effect of dietary supplementation of old rats (26-33 months) with hydrogenated peanut oil on the activity of mitochondrial enzymes in skeletal muscles has been studied. The activities of NADH-coenzyme Q1 oxidoreductase, cytochrome c oxidase, and citrate synthase were determined spectrophotometrically in muscle homogenates. The activities of respiratory complexes I and IV were shown to significantly decrease with the age compared to the activity of the same enzymes in young animals, while the activity of citrate synthase was virtually unchanged. The fatty acid composition of muscle homogenates of old rats differed from that of young animals by a reduced content of myristic, oleic, linoleic, and α-linolenic acids and enhanced content of dihomo-γ-linolenic, arachidonic, and docosahexaenoic acids. Per oral supplementation of the old rats with hydrogenated peanut oil completely restored the activity of complex IV and increased the activity of complex I to 80% of the value observed in muscles of young animals, reducing the content of stearic, dihomo-γ-linolenic, arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids relative to that in the groups of old and young rats. The content of oleic and linoleic acids increased relatively to that in the group of the old rats, as well as young animals. The possible mechanisms of the restoration of the activity of the respiratory enzymes under the administration of hydrogenated peanut oil are discussed.
KEY WORDS: mitochondrial respiratory chain, oxidative stress, aging, fatty acid composition of lipids, skeletal muscles, vegetable oil

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297910120102