Analyzing the hippocampal gene network to determine the effects of coral calcium hydride on antioxidant ability in rat brain

In our previous study, we reported that a diet rich in antioxidants such as coral calcium hydride (CCH) increased the endogenous antioxidant ability in the hippocampus of rats. We conducted this study to test the hypothesis that diet supplementation with CCH would change the gene expression in rats and to understand how CCH enhances antioxidant ability. We used a DNA array to compare the expression levels in the hippocampus of rats fed with CCH for 2 weeks with those of rats fed a normal diet. Immune response-related genes were down-regulated, while nuclear respiratory factor 2 and aldehyde dehydrogenase 3A were up-regulated. Our findings about the changes in the mRNA levels of these genes well explain the physiological finding of enhanced antioxidant ability in rat brain.在既往研究中，我们曾报道，富含抗氧化剂（如氢化珊瑚钙（coral calcium hydride, CCH））的膳食可提升大鼠海马体的内源性抗氧化能力。本研究旨在验证“补充氢化珊瑚钙的膳食可改变大鼠基因表达”这一假说，并阐明氢化珊瑚钙提升抗氧化能力的具体机制。我们采用DNA微阵列（DNA array）技术，对比了连续2周饲喂氢化珊瑚钙膳食的大鼠与正常膳食大鼠的海马体基因表达水平。结果显示，与免疫应答相关的基因呈下调表达，而核呼吸因子2（nuclear respiratory factor 2）与醛脱氢酶3A则呈上调表达。本研究中关于这些基因mRNA水平变化的发现，很好地解释了大鼠脑部抗氧化能力增强的生理学现象。