Effects of olive oil on superoxide dismutase activity in the brain of newborn and young female rats

Changes in the activity of brain antioxidant superoxide dismutases (SOD) were followed in newborn and young female rats 8, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 days after birth treated with olive oil. In newborn rats, the content of brain cytosol SOD (CuZnSOD) and mitochondrial SOD (MnSOD) decreased after treatment with olive oil. However, in the brain of rats aged 8 days this effect was lost. The suppressive effect of olive oil on these enzymes reappeared again in 15-day-old rats. In rats aged one month, only the activity of CuZnSOD was reduced after olive oil treatment. In the brain of rats aged 45, 60 and 75 days, neither MnSOD nor CuZnSOD were affected by olive oil. The different effects of olive oil on the brain SOD, during ontogeny suggest that profound changes in the susceptibility of nervous tissue antioxidant enzymes to olive oil take place during sexual maturation.