Age-Related Changes of Liver Antioxidant Enzymes and 8-Hydroxy-2-Deoxyguanosine During Fetal–Neonate Transition and Early Rat Development

We have studied the pro-antioxidant status of the rat liver on the last day of gestation and at 1, 15, and 30 days of extrauterine life. Representative variables, such as activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase and concentrations of reduced glutathione and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine, were determined in liver to assess the degree of birth-associated oxidative stress during the fetal-neonatal transition and early development of the rat. Percentages by which liver Cu/ZnSOD activity increased over the basal value of the fetal liver were 54%, 95%, and 127% at neonatal days 1, 15, and 30, respectively. There was a lack of induction in the development profil…