Age-related Decrease in Rat Liver Catalase Expression is Associated with Change in its Promoter Methylation Pattern

Catalase is an antioxidant enzyme that catalyzes mainly the transformation of hydrogen peroxide, a reactive oxygen species, into water and oxygen. Reactive oxygen species cause oxidative stress that plays an important role in aging process. Results of the present study suggest that elevation of oxidative stress in liver during aging process is due to down regulation of catalase as a consequence of increase methylation of CpG island in its promoter region which spans from-268 to +52 with respect to translation initiation codon.