Objectives: Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are phase-II metabolic enzymes playing important roles in drug metabolism, anti-oxidative stress and anti-aging. Age is a key factor influencing GSTs expression. Thus, age-related changes of 10 GSTs were examined.

Methods: Livers from male Sprague–Dawley rats at fetus (−2 d), neonates (1, 7, 14 and 21 d), puberty (28 and 35 d), adulthood (60 and 180 d), and aging (540 and 800 d), were collected and subjected to qPCR analysis. Liver proteins from 14, 28, 60, 180, 540 and 800 d were also extracted for selected protein analysis by Western-blot.

Results: The expression of GSTA1 and GSTP1 increased over the life span and the expression of GSTA4, GSTO1 and GSTZ1 gradually increased until adulthood, and slightly decreased at 800 days. The expression of GSTM1, GSTM3, GSTT1, GSTT2 and GSTK1 gradually increased until adulthood, but significantly decreased during aging of 540 and 800 days. There is a small peak at 7–14 d for GSTA1, GSTP1 and GSTZ1. The protein expression of GSTA1, GSTM1 and GSTP1 followed the trend of mRNA changes.

Discussion: This study characterized three expression patterns of 10 GSTs during development and aging in rat liver, adding to our understanding of anti-aging role of GSTs.

目的：谷胱甘肽S-转移酶（GSTs）是II期代谢酶，在药物代谢，抗氧化应激和抗衰老中起着重要作用。年龄是影响GST表达的关键因素。因此，研究了与年龄相关的10种GST的变化。

方法：雄性Sprague-Dawley大鼠的肝脏在胎儿（−2 d），新生儿（1、7、14和21 d），青春期（28和35 d），成年（60和180 d）和衰老（540和收集800 d）并进行qPCR分析。还提取了14、28、60、180、540和800 d的肝蛋白，以进行Western印迹分析。

结果：GSTA1和GSTP1的表达在整个生命周期中增加，GSTA4，GSTO1和GSTZ1的表达逐渐增加直至成年，在800天时略有下降。GSTM1，GSTM3，GSTT1，GSTT2和GSTK1的表达逐渐增加直至成年，但在540和800天的衰老过程中显着下降。GSTA1，GSTP1和GSTZ1在7-14 d有一个小峰。GSTA1，GSTM1和GSTP1的蛋白表达遵循mRNA变化的趋势。

讨论：这项研究表征了10种GST在大鼠肝脏发育和衰老过程中的三种表达模式，加深了我们对GST抗衰老作用的了解。