Food restriction in female Wistar rats. VI. Effect of reduced glutathione on the proliferative response of splenic lymphocytes from ad libitum fed and food restricted animals

Abstract

The effect of reduced glutathione (GSH) on the proliferative response of splenic lymphocytes from young, adult and old ad libitum (AL) fed as well as from old food-restricted rats was investigated. Food restriction was applied on an every-other-day schedule (EOD) starting from the age of 3.5 months. As was expected, the cells from EOD fed animals responded to concanavalin A (Con A) much better than those from age-matched ad libitum fed rats. The presence of the antioxidant GSH in the culture medium increased the response of lymphocytes in all the models taken into account; furthermore, it decreased the differences due to aging and application of food restriction. According to present knowledge, mitogenic stimulation induces free radical production, and GSH has, among others, a strong antioxidant activity. Thus, present data suggest that splenocytes from EOD animals tolerated the peroxidative stress resulting from mitogenic stimulation better than those from AL fed ones.