AGE-RELATED NEURODEGENERATION AND OXIDATIVE STRESS - PUTATIVE NUTRITIONAL INTERVENTION

This review describes age-related changes that occur in neuronal funct ion and cites evidence to show that these alterations may be the resul t of increased sensitivity to oxidative stress (OS). Evidence is prese nted to show that the abilities to mitigate the OS effects and to repa ir the damage from OS show decline as a function of age. Results from age- and OS-sensitive tests are given; these results indicate that one of the major sites of action of OS is the membranes, especially if co mpromised by high amounts of sphingomyelin, and one of the major effec ts of OS is to further alter the calcium disregulation in aging. It is suggested that attempts to increase antioxidant protection through di ets comprised of fruits and vegetables identified as being high in tot al antioxidant activity might prevent or reverse the deleterious OS ef fects on neuronal aging.