Free radical production and oxidative stress are known to increase in liver during aging, and may contribute to the oxidative damage. These changes increase during menopausal condition in females when the level of estradiol is decreased. The objective of this study was to observe the changes in activities of membrane linked ATPases (Na+K+ ATPase, Ca2+ ATPase), antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione-S-transferase), lipid peroxidation levels, lipofuscin content and membrane fluidity occurring in livers of female rats of 3, 12 and 24 months age groups, and to see whether these changes are restored to 3 months control levels rats after exogenous administration of 17-β-estradiol (E2). The aged rats (12 and 24 months) were given subcutaneous injection of E2 (0.1？μg/g body weight) daily for one month. The results obtained in the present work revealed that normal aging was associated with significant decrease in the activities of membrane linked ATPases, antioxidant enzymes, membrane fluidity and an increase in lipid peroxidation and lipofuscin content in livers of aging female rats. The present study showed that E2 treatment reversed the changes to normal levels. E2 treatment may be beneficial in preventing some of the age related changes in the liver by increasing antioxidant defenses. 1. Introduction Free radical production and oxidative stress are known to increase in liver during aging and may contribute to the oxidative damage, which plays an important role in the aging process [1]. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several alterations due to menopause and can arise through the increased production of lipid peroxides and/or a deficiency of antioxidant defense [2, 3]. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the actions and functions of the estrogen replacement therapy and steroid hormone estrogens (17-β-estradiol, E2) important role in the progression of chronic hepatic diseases and synaptic plasticity [4, 5]. Moorthy et al. [6] reported that older women might also benefit from the protective effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) that uses a relatively lower concentration of hormones. E2 could enhance antioxidant and antiapoptotic activity in hepatic fibrosis in rats [7, 8]. Morphofunctional studies suggest that the liver, compared with other organs, ages fairly well [9]. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), which decreased in rat liver, brain, heart, kidney, and uterus [10, 11] during aging, constitutes an important defense system to clear up the detrimental reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vivo [2].
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