Iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation in aging C57BL/6J mice.

Total iron concentrations in organs from C57BL/6J male mice increased with age. In animals ranging 45 to 900 days of age liver iron increased by 216%, heart by 66%, kidney by 54% and brain by 27%. Two separate phases of iron accumulation were found in brain, kidney and liver. Between 45-355 days of age brain iron increased by 33% and after 355 days there was no change. For both kidney and liver no change was found until after 355 days of age when liver increased by 140% and kidney by 44%. The kidney and liver results suggest a true aging phenomenon. Liver peroxidation potential as measured by the thiobarbituric acid test tended to increase with age but the differences were not significant. The addition of metal ion chelators greatly reduced lipid peroxide values for all organs but no significant age-related trend was evident. We conclude that the large aging-related increases in tissue iron are not correlated with increased concentrations of lipid peroxides.