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Nitric oxide reacts rapidly with superoxide to produce the potent oxidant peroxynitrite. In vivo mitochondria produce superoxide as well as NO. In heart mitochondria of aging rats the amount of NO and O2(-) are increased thus the levels of peroxynitrite produced may be increased too, in this reason mitochondria may be a major site of peroxynitrite formation. Oxidative stress induces cyclosporine A-sensitive mitochondrial efflux of calcium and proapoptotic factors through MPTP (mitochondrial permeability transition pore) opening in heart mitochondria which may contribute to tissue damage and mitochondrial dysfunction in aging rats. We tested the levels of NO and superoxide generation in mitochondria simultaneously with cyclosporine A-sensitive MPTP opening by Ca2+ and phenylarsine oxide (PAO) to determine whether downregulation of both NO and O2(-) generation in heart mitochondria by potent steroid antioxidant and free radical scavenger ecdysterone may protect heart mitochondria of aging rats again tissue damage. C27-phytosteroid hormone ecdysterone (10 mkg/100g, per os, 2 weeks) mimics action of its structural analog C27- steroid hormone calcitriol (1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) and exert its cardio protection in aging heart mitochondria by inhibition of MPTP opening with effectivity of action of hormone melatonine (150 mkg/100g, 2 weeks [ V.F. Sagach et al. Fyziol. J (Ukr), 2006, 52(2), 3-15]). MPTP inhibition is dependent on paradoxycally high activation by ecdusterone of oxidative degradation of L-arginine by mtcNOS in mitochondria, by downregulation of superoxide generation and L-arginine degradation by arginase II and NO generation by mtiNOS in de novo and by NADP-dependent mtNR (nitrate reductase) in salvage pathways. These results suggest that MPTP opening may be directly influenced by ecdysterone signaling in mitochondria. The signaling pathway by which ecdysterone may coregulate the O2(-) and NO generation in heart mitochondria of aging rats may involve an outer mitochondrial membrane estrogen receptor coupled to mitochondrial PI3K/Akt/PKB activation results in superactivation and constitutive NO synthesis by mtcNOS.

The effect of the hormone of pineal gland melatonin on the ischemic tolerance and the sensitivity of mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening in old rat heart were studied. It has been shown in the Langendorf's isolated rat heart that heart contractile functional changes under ischemia and reperfusion were more pronounced in old (24-27 months) rat hearts in comparison with the adult (5-6 months) animals. A two-week's in vivo course of intraperitoneal injection of melatonin (1,5 mg/kg weight) to old rats contributed to the rehabilitation of the functional changes of isolated heart after ischemia during reperfusion and decreased the sensitivity of mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening to Ca2+ and phenilarsinoxide in comparison with old animals which did not received melatonin. It was accompanied by the significant decreasing in mRNA bax expression in old rat heart, lessening in content of the superoxide radicals and dien conjugates and twice increasing in the activity of constitutive NO-synthase in heart mitochondria of old rat after a course of melatonin injection. The protective feffect of melatonin on the mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening could be used for correction of the cardiac dysfunction with aging.

We studied the sensitivity of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) opening to its inductor-phenylarsineoxide (PAO) in adult (6 months), old rat heart (24 months) and in old rat heart under conditions of intermittent hypoxic training (IHT). We defined the sensitivity of MPTP opening on two parameters: the alterations in mitochondrial swelling and the release ofmitochondrial substances (mitochondrial factor). It was shown that mitochondria of old rat heart are more sensitive to PAO which caused opening of cyclosporin-sensitive MPTP and MPTP-dependent factor release, in comparison with those of adult rat heart mitochondria. One of the causes of increased sensitivity of MPTP opening to PAO is development of an oxidative stress with age that was accompanied by increase of an active metabolite of oxygen IHT on PAO-induced MPTP-opening and MPTP-dependent factor release from old rat heart mitochondria. IHT also reduced the content of H2O2 and *OH in old rat hearts. IHT can be used as protective procedure preventing MPTP opening in aging and, probably, in a numerous chronic pathological states of organism under oxidative stress.

An age-related increase in the sensitivity of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) to inductors of it's opening, Ca2+ ions and phenylarsineoxide (PAO) was studied in experiments in vitro on isolated heart mitochondria of adult and old rats. Two indices were measured spectrophotometrically (lambda = 520 nm) by a decrease in an optical density (OD), resulting from mitochondrial swelling and a release of mitochondrial unidentified substances (mitochondrial factor, MF) registered also spectrophotometrically in a range of waves lambda = 230-260 nm. Dose-dependent effect of Ca2+ (10(-7)-10(-4) mol/l) and PAO (10(-8)-10(-4) mol/l) on swelling of the mitochondria were observed in samples from both adult and old rats. Swelling of the mitochondria from the heart of old rats induced by application of the above inductors was more intensive than the respective effect in samples from adult rats. In samples from the heart of both adult and old rats Ca2+ ions within the tested concentration range (10(-7)-10(-4) mol/l) evoked the release of MF in a dose-dependent manner. Mitochondria from the heart of old rats were found to be capable of releasing some amounts of MF in the absence of the MPTP inductors PAO. When this inductor was applied in a 10(-9) to 10(-4) mol/l concentration range, isolated mitochondria from the heart of old rats released unidentified substances with the absorption peaks at two wavelength, lambda = 230 nm and lambda = 240-245 nm. The former peak was found to be Cyclosporin A-insensitive, while the latter peak could be practically completely inhibited by this antibiotic. The concentrations of tested solutions (10(-7) mol/l CaCl2 and 10(-9) mol/l PAO), at which the release of the factor from the mitochondria of the old rat heart was observed, were significantly lower than those in adult rats. Our experimental data show that mitochondria isolated from the heart tissue of old rats demonstrate significantly higher sensitivity to inductors of MPTP-opening, Ca(2+)-overload and PAO as compared to that typical of adult animals. A higher sensitivity of MPTP-opening in the heart of old rats was accompanied by a higher basal level of expression of mRNA of the bax gene, as compared to that found in adult animals. The expression of the bcl-2 gene showed no age group-related differences. It can be supposed that a proapoptotic agent, the Bax protein, is related to an increase in the sensitivity of the MPTP (in particular to that manifested in the processes of pore formation) in the course of aging. Antioxidants, melathonin and trolox, when applied in 10(-5) mol/l concentration, presented to a certain extent opening of the MPTP-induced by 10(-5) mol/l PAO in samples from adult and old rats. These findings can be used for correction of increased sensitivity of the MPTP to different inductors, which is typical of old rats. We conclude that physiological aging is accompanied by the mitochondrial dysfunction. The MF-released capability of the mitochondria from heart tissue of old rats observed both in the presence and absence of MPTP-opening inductors (probably related to a higher sensitivity of MPTP-opening) is one of the manifestation of such dysfunction.