Changes and significance of ATPase and free radical in aged rats with brain ischemia-reperfusion

AIM: To study the mechanism of brain ischemia-reperfusion injury from ATPase activity and free radical metabolism in aged rats. METHODS: The young rats (5 months) and the aged rats (more than 20 months) were divided into young control group(YCG), young model group(YMG), aged control group(ACG) and aged model group(AMG). The ATPase and SOD activities and the contents of MDA, Ca^2＋, Na^＋ and K^＋ were measured in the rats with 30 min brain ischemia followed by 60 min reperfusion. RESULTS: The Ca^2＋content in the AMG was higher than that in the YMG and the ACG. The Na^＋-K^＋-ATPase activity in the ACG was lower than that in the YCG,was lower in the AMG than that in the YMG. The Ca^2＋-ATPase activities in the YCG was higher than that in the ACG, was lower in the AMG than that in the YMG and was higher than the ACG's. The serum and brain tissue SOD activities in the ACG was lower than that in the YCG, was lower in the AMG than YMG 's. The serum and brain tissue MDA/SOD ratio in the AMG was higher than that in the ACG.CONCLUSION:The brain tissue ischemia-reperfusion injury was related with calcium overload and free radical injury.The pathological changes were obvious and had some characteristics in the aged rats compared with the young rats because of the brain t issue aging changes in ATPase,calcium content and free radical metabolism in the aged rats.