Effect of a mitochondria-targeted vitamin E derivative on mitochondrial alteration and systemic oxidative stress in mice

• Published in: British journal of nutrition 2011-07, Vol.106 (1), p.87-95
• Main Authors: Mao, Gaowei, Kraus, George A., Kim, Ikyon, Spurlock, Michael E., Bailey, Theodore B., Beitz, Donald C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adenosine triphosphate; Adenosine Triphosphate - metabolism; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Body weight; Body Weight - drug effects; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Drug Delivery Systems; drugs; Ethanol; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; glutathione peroxidase; Hydrogen peroxide; Hydrogen Peroxide - metabolism; Isoprostanes - urine; liver; Liver - metabolism; Male; Metabolism; Metabolism and Metabolic Studies; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mitochondria; Mitochondria, Liver - drug effects; Mitochondria, Liver - metabolism; Mitochondria, Muscle - drug effects; Mitochondria, Muscle - metabolism; Nutrition research; oral administration; Organophosphorus Compounds - pharmacology; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidative stress; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; Sodium chloride; superoxide dismutase; Ubiquinone - pharmacology; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vitamin E
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114510005830

The objective of the present study was to determine whether a mitochondria-targeted vitamin E derivative (MitoVit E) would affect certain mitochondrial parameters, as well as systemic oxidative stress. A total of sixty-four mice were fed a high-fat (HF) diet for 5 weeks. They were then switched to either a low-fat (LF) or a medium-fat (MF) diet, and administered orally with MitoVit E (40 mg MitoVit E/kg body weight) or drug vehicle (10 % (v/v) ethanol in 0·9 % (w/v) NaCl solution), every other day for 5 weeks. Mitochondrial ATP and H2O2 production rates in both the liver and the gastrocnemius were not affected by MitoVit E administration in either LF or MF diet-fed mice. However, the number and average size of the subsarcolemmal mitochondria, but not the intermyofibrillar mitochondria, from the soleus muscle were significantly higher in the MF group receiving MitoVit E (MF-E) than in the MF group receiving vehicle only (MF-C). After the mice were switched from the HF diet to the four dietary treatments (LF-C, LF-E, MF-C and MF-E), the decrease in urinary isoprostane concentration was significantly greater in the LF-E group than in the other three groups during the whole study (weeks 6–10). In addition, MitoVit E significantly increased plasma superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in the MF diet-fed group without affecting plasma glutathione peroxidase activity or H2O2 levels. Overall, these data suggest that MitoVit E affects subsarcolemmal mitochondrial density and systemic oxidative stress parameters such as plasma SOD activity and urinary isoprostane concentration.