TABLE 2.
Relative abundance of Nrf2 and Nrf2 target gene transcripts from skeletal muscle of control young and old mice and those fed SFN
| Young control | Young + SFN | Old control | Old + SFN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genes for antioxidant enzymes | ||||
| Cat | 1.38 ± 0.48 | 2.66 ± 0.20**** | 0.19 ± 0.06xxxx | 1.64 ± 0.23**** |
| Sod1 | 1.65 ± 0.37 | 4.42 ± 0.69**** | 0.98 ± 0.24xx | 4.35 ± 0.85**** |
| Sod2 | 1.63 ± 0.22 | 6.48 ± 1.02**** | 1.18 ± 0.41ns | 4.45 ± 0.49**** |
| Pxdn | 0.32 ± 0.08 | 1.37 ± 0.24**** | 0.33 ± 0.09ns | 0.87 ± 0.08* |
| Gpx1 | 1.71 ± 0.38 | 4.53 ± 0.27**** | 0.44 ± 0.08xxxx | 1.31 ± 0.25*** |
| Genes for enzymes associated with aging | ||||
| HO−1 | 0.03 ± 0.01 | 0.12 ± 0.02 ns | 0.01 ± 0.001 ns | 0.01 ± 0.001 ns |
| Sirt1 | 0.30 ± 0.13 | 1.07 ± 0.20* | 0.09 ± 0.04 ns | 0.40 ± 0.10 ns |
| Pgc1 | 0.06 ± 0.04 | 0.19 ± 0.07ns | 0.05 ± 0.10 ns | 0.08 ± 0.02 ns |
| Genes for anti‐electrophile enzymes | ||||
| Gsta4 | 2.51 ± 0.81 | 5.71 ± 0.50**** | 0.90 ± 0.30xxxx | 2.45 ± 0.18**** |
| Akr3 | 0.03 ± 0.01 | 0.05 ± 0.02ns | 0.01 ± 0.001ns | 0.02 ± 0.001 ns |
| Akr7 | 0.65 ± 0.24 | 0.76 ± 0.30ns | 1.18 ± 0.31* | 0.83 ± 0.25ns |
| Akr8 | 0.07 ± 0.02 | 0.08 ± 0.03 ns | 0.03 ± 0.01 ns | 0.06 ± 0.05ns |
| Genes for glutathione synthesis and loss | ||||
| Gclc | 0.07 ± 0.05 | 0.14 ± 0.01* | 0.06 ± 0.01ns | 0.11 ± 0.04* |
| Gclm | 0.06 ± 0.01 | 0.19 ± 0.04* | 0.04 ± 0.02ns | 0.09 ± 0.04* |
| Gene for major regulator of antioxidant and cellular protective genes | ||||
| Nrf2 | 0.90 ± 0.37 | 1.77 ± 0.82*** | 0.26 ± 0.07xx | 0.90 ± 0.40** |
Relative levels of transcripts encoding Nrf2, Nrf2‐driven antioxidant and anti‐electrophile enzymes, enzymes associated with aging, and enzymes involved in glutathione synthesis and loss were measured by qRT‐PCR in young and old mice skeletal muscle of control and treated animals. Gene expression levels were normalized to the S3 ribosomal protein transcript by calculating for each individual animal the difference, ∆Ct, in the respective cycle numbers. The ratio of the gene expression level was calculated by the ∆∆Ct method as described in Methods section, and values are shown as mean ± SD (n = 5). Asterisks denote a statistical significance by Tukey's post hoc after two‐way ANOVA of all groups difference (* p < .05,** p < .01,*** p < .001,**** p < .05, two‐tailed t test) between control and treated (young or old) group of animals. “x” denotes similar comparisons between untreated young and old groups of animals (xx p < .01,xxxx p < .0001, two‐tailed t test). “ns” denotes p > .05 in all comparisons.