Effect of Cigarette Smoke and 2-Mercaptoethanol Administration on Age-Related Alterations and Immunological Parameters

Abstract

In old CBA/Ca mice the effect of cigarette smoke was compared with that of 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) treatment. It could be stated that spontaneous death was more frequent in animals kept in cigarette smoke than in the control animals. Prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma was higher in animals kept in cigarette smoke than in the controls. After 2-ME treatment the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma was significantly lower and animals without disorders were more frequent than in smokers. Body weights were lower in animals kept in cigarette smoke and differences in organ indices could be observed, too. Immunological changes were also demonstrated: in mice kept in cigarette smoke the reactivity against a foreign antigen such as sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) was lower, while after 2-ME treatment it was higher than in their controls using direct plaque formation technique. The ratio of normal reactivity (against SRBC) and autoreactivity (against mouse erythrocytes) showed a decrease in smoker animals, and an increase in the 2-ME-treated ones. The experiments showed a deleterious effect of cigarette smoke and a beneficial effect of 2-ME on age-related alterations.

Obesity, longevity, quality of life

“…58 These findings, plus the beneficial in situ aspects of 2-Me found for aging mice and rats, 23,[38][39][40] raise the question as to why stronger redox-SH molecules have not been more extensively evaluated for therapeutic value. Is the major obstacle curtailing evaluation of the two strongest, 2-Me and dithiothreitol, their potentially lethal manifestations?…”

“…Reverting an age-associated change back to normal is supported by the conversion of the in vivo immune response of old (24 months) C3H mice to that of young (four months) C3H mice by only three or four weekly injections of 2-Me prior to antigen sensitization. 39 Evidence supporting the prevention of a process from proceeding are: (a) maintenance of dopamine release, (b) slowing tumor formation, 23,38 (c) curtailing malondialdehyde formation, 40 (d) slowing lipofuscin pigment accumulation as a consequence of autooxidation of PUFA 41,42 and (e) establishing a mechanism within 28 days of age that resulted in a significant extension of survival of SLE-prone strains (accompanying report).…”

“…[29][30][31][32][33][34] Based on the multitude of beneficial effects of 2-Me for cell functions in vitro plus mercaptan changes that occur with age and protein deprivation 35,36 (which led to the free radical theory of aging 25 ) raised the question: What consequences, besides toxicity, 37 might 2-Me impart if administered as a dietary supplement? This was especially intriguing considering its effect on changes associated with aging; (a) modestly increased life span of long-lived mice, 23 (b) delayed decline of immune functions with age, 23,38 (c) except for old C57BL, enhanced the immune response of old mice by a single injection, 39 (d) reversed the loss of antibody responsiveness in old mice back to that of young mice by only 3 or 4 weekly injections, 39 (e) delayed the spontaneous appearance of tumors release, 40 and (g) prevented malondialdehyde formation. 40 This latter chemical is implicated in irreversible cross-linking of proteins and DNA, 41 which is formed along with lipofuscins 23,42,43 during autooxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids.…”

Dietary supplemented 2-mercaptoethanol prevents spontaneous and delays virally-induced murine mammary tumorigenesis

“…Supplementation with 2-Me was well-tolerated as it did not alter consumption of food or water and did not result in weight loss/gain compared with age-matched controls-these data are not included since it did not differ from that reported previously for many other strains. [18][19][20][21]31,40 Treatment with 2-Me was started at weaning (35-40 d of age) and continued for an animal's entire life. Average daily consumption of 2-Me fluctuated over the lifetime from 60-80 ugm/gm body wt.…”

“…Research on xenobiotic sulfur compounds with simple structures has generally been focused on in vitro benefits for a multitude of cell-types and processes (> 1,000 articles in PubMed). Subsequently, as might be expected, xenobiotics (primarily 2-Me and cysteamine) when either injected into or fed to animals were found to modify a multitude of disease processes (REC in preparation), including spontaneous tumor development [18][19][20] and virally-, 21,22 carcinogenic- [23][24][25][26][27][28] and radiation-induced cancers. [29][30][31] The present report describes alteration of spontaneous and virally-induced tumor development by the extensively investigated immune enhancing, xenobiotic organosulfur, 2-Me and compares its anticancer efficacy to that of other organosulfurs.…”