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. 2021 Oct;60(7):3679-3690.
doi: 10.1007/s00394-021-02541-z. Epub 2021 Mar 18.

Effects of lipoic acid supplementation on age- and iron-induced memory impairment, mitochondrial DNA damage and antioxidant responses

Patrícia Molz  1   2   3 , Betânia Souza de Freitas  2 , Vanise Hallas Uberti  2 , Kesiane Mayra da Costa  1   3 , Luiza Wilges Kist  1 , Maurício Reis Bogo  1   3   4 , Nadja Schröder  5   6
Affiliations

Effects of lipoic acid supplementation on age- and iron-induced memory impairment, mitochondrial DNA damage and antioxidant responses

Patrícia Molz et al. Eur J Nutr. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effects of lipoic acid (LA) supplementation during adulthood combined with supplementation later in life or LA administration only at old age on age-induced cognitive dysfunction, mitochondrial DNA deletions, caspase 3 and antioxidant response enzymes expression in iron-treated rats.

Methods: Male rats were submitted to iron treatment (30 mg/kg body wt of Carbonyl iron) from 12 to 14th post-natal days. Iron-treated rats received LA supplementation (50 mg/kg, daily) in adulthood and old age or at old age only for 21 days. Memory, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) complex I deletions, caspase 3 mRNA expression and antioxidant response enzymes mRNA expression were analyzed in the hippocampus.

Results: LA administration in adulthood combined with treatment later in life was able to reverse age-induced effects on object recognition and inhibitory avoidance memory, as well as on mtDNA deletions, nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) expression, and antioxidant enzymes disruption induced by iron in aged rats. LA treatment only at old age reversed iron-induced effects to a lesser extent when compared to the combined treatment.

Conclusion: The present findings support the view that LA supplementation may be considered as an adjuvant against mitochondrial damage and cognitive decline related to aging and neurodegenerative disorders.

Keywords: Aging; Antioxidant; Iron; Lipoic acid; Memory; Mitochondria.

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