Year: 2021
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Brain markers of oxidative damage increase with advancing age. In response, brain antioxidant levels may also increase with age, although this has not been well investigated. Here, we used edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy to quantify endogenous levels of glutathione (GSH, one of the most abundant brain antioxidants) in 37 young [mean: 21.8 (2.5) years; 19 female] and 23 older adults [mean: 72.8 (8.9) years; 19 female]. Accounting for age-related atrophy, we identified higher frontal and sensorimotor GSH levels for the older compared with the younger adults. For the older adults only, higher sensorimotor (but not frontal) GSH was correlated with poorer balance and gait. This suggests a regionally specific relationship between higher brain oxidative stress levels and motor performance declines with age. We suggest these findings reflect an upregulation of GSH in response to increasing brain oxidative stress with normal aging. Together, these results provide insight into age differences in brain antioxidant levels and implications for motor function.
Source: Cerebral Cortex
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, Brain Research Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Research Foundation, University of Florida, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, Division of Materials Research, High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Awards: G1138554163, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Renewal 2018-2022, G1901407767, G202848078, G2336362177, G2746354239, Advanced 3T for Structural and Functional Imaging at University of Florida, G354028113, G3560959519, Optimized Multi-Metabolite Edited MRS at 3T, G410635398, Resource for Quantitative Functional FMRI, G5387060660, G5597825783, Cognitive and functional deficits associated with reduced cortical GABA in HIV-infected heavy drinkers, G6010147111, G615944722, G6432610978, Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), Cortical Inhibition and Mobility in Older Adults, G7901641280, Scaling and Sequencing Motor Output in Humans: fMRI Study, G8335731817, Simultaneous Hadamard Editing of GABA and Glutathione, G9000057464, Interdisciplinary Training in Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration, Universal Edited MRS at 3T
OpenAlex ID: W3159326432