Balietti Marta, Giannubilo Stefano R, Giorgetti Belinda, Solazzi Moreno, Turi Angelo, Casoli Tiziana, Ciavattini Andrea, Fattorettia Patrizia
Neurobiology of Aging Centre, INRCA, Ancona, Italy.
Cellular Bioenergetics Laboratory, INRCA, Ancona, Italy.
J Sci Food Agric. 2016 Jan 30;96(2):615-8. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.7131. Epub 2015 Feb 25.
Astaxanthin (Ax) is a ketocarotenoid of the xanthophyll family with activities such as antioxidation, preservation of the integrity of cell membranes and protection of the redox state and functional integrity of mitochondria. The aim of this study was to investigate potential gender-related differences in the effect of Ax on the aging rat brain.
In females, interleukin 1 beta (IL1β) was significantly lower in treated rats in both cerebral areas, and in the cerebellum, treated animals also had significantly higher IL10. In males, no differences were found in the cerebellum, but in the hippocampus, IL1β and IL10 were significantly higher in treated rats.
These are the first results to show gender-related differences in the effect of Ax on the aging brain, emphasizing the necessity to carefully analyze female and male peculiarities when the anti-aging potentialities of this ketocarotenoid are evaluated. The observations lead to the hypothesis that Ax exerts different anti-inflammatory effects in female and male brains.
虾青素（Ax）是一种叶黄素类的酮类胡萝卜素，具有抗氧化、维持细胞膜完整性以及保护线粒体氧化还原状态和功能完整性等活性。本研究的目的是探讨虾青素对衰老大鼠大脑的影响中潜在的性别差异。
在雌性大鼠中，两个脑区经处理的大鼠白细胞介素1β（IL1β）显著降低，在小脑，经处理的动物白细胞介素10（IL10）也显著升高。在雄性大鼠中，小脑未发现差异，但在海马体中，经处理的大鼠IL1β和IL10显著更高。
这些是首次表明虾青素对衰老大脑的影响存在性别差异的结果，强调在评估这种酮类胡萝卜素的抗衰老潜力时仔细分析雌性和雄性特性的必要性。这些观察结果引发了一个假设，即虾青素在雌性和雄性大脑中发挥不同的抗炎作用。
