Antioxidative activity of lipids in mice during aging and administration of an antioxidant with gerontological protective action.

Changes in the antioxidative activity (AOA) of the liver were studied during natural aging in noninbred and C3HA mice and during administration of the synthetic anti-oxidant 2-ethyl-6-methyl-3-hydroxypyridine hydroxypyridine hydrochloride to the animals, and the effect of the doses of this compound on the level of AOA in the liver of animals aged 2 months also was investigated. Liver AOA in mice was found to decrease during aging; the decreae in animals with tumors was found to be two or three times slower than in animals without tumors. Administration of the compound after the age of 8 months led to a considerable increase in liver AOA, and this may evidently account for the considerable lengthening of the life of the experimental animals.