Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, Vol 53, Issue 5 B340-B346, Copyright © 1998 by The Gerontological Society of America
Role of glutathione in the beneficial effect of dietary restriction on bile formation in young, mature, and old rats
G Bouchard, S Chevalier, A Perea, C Barriault, IM Yousef and B Tuchweber
Department of Pharmacology, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
We investigated the contribution of bile salts and glutathione (GSH) to the
generation of bile flow in young, mature, and old female Sprague- Dawley
rats, either fed ad libitum (AL) or subjected to a 40% dietary restriction
(DR), which was supplemented or not with vitamins and minerals, starting
from weaning. An age-related decline in bile flow was observed in the AL
group. DR increased bile flow compared to age- matched AL rats, resulting
in a twofold increase in the old animals. This was associated with a
statistically significantly higher biliary GSH secretion rate and a
moderate increase in the bile salt secretory rate. The apparent
GSH-dependent flow was significantly increased in DR groups of all ages.
Hepatic GSH concentration was closely related to the GSH secretion rate.
These results indicate that the increase in biliary GSH content produced by
DR is the major mediator of the increased bile flow, resulting in enhanced
GSH and GSH-derived thiols supply to the intestinal lumen.
