Abstract: The objective of this research was to evaluate the anti-aging effect of skipjack tuna oil (STO) on a mouse model of D-galactose-induced aging. Healthy ICR mice of reproductive age were randomly divided into 6 groups (n = 8): blank control, low-, middle- and high-dose STO, aging model and positive control groups. Mice in the control group were subjected to subcutaneous injection of 0.9% saline every day, while mice in other experimental groups were subjected to subcutaneous injection of 4% D-galactose (1 000 mg/kg mb) and administrated with different concentrations of STO (20, 50 and 100 mg/mL) at a dose of 10 mL/kg mb by gavage. Mice in the positive control group were administrated with commercial fish oil (100 mg/kg mb) and those in the blank control and aging model groups were by gavage administrated with an equal volume of normal saline for 6 weeks. The activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and catalase (CAT), and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver and serum of mice were determined. The pathological changes of liver tissues were observed. Results indicated that the liver and spleen indexes in the high-dose and blank control groups were significantly lower than in the model group (P < 0.05). The serum and hepatic activities of GSH-Px, T-SOD and CAT in the model group were significantly decreased relative to the blank control group (P < 0.05) while the opposite was found for MDA content. STO at all doses increased the levels of GSH-Px, T-SOD and CAT in serum and liver tissue and reduced MDA level. Pathological observation showed that STO could alleviate liver damage during aging, especially at high dose.

Key words: skipjack tuna oil, D-galactose, aging model, anti-aging effect