Defence against oxidative stress in two species of land snails (Helix pomatia and Helix aspersa) subjected to estivation

During summer, land snails are exposed to estivation/arousal cycles that imposes oxidative stress, but they exhibit different patterns of antioxidant defence. To test the ability of two related species, Helix pomatia and Helix aspersa, to modulate their antioxidant defence mechanism during estivation/arousal cycles, we examined activities of catalase and glutathione-related enzymes and concentrations of glutathione and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS; as products of lipid peroxidation). In both species, estivation evoked changes in activity of total and selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (GPx), but did not affect activity of catalase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione transferase, and had no effect on concentration of glutathione. Activity of catalase in estivating snails, instead of the expected increase, showed a tendency to diminish. Extremely low activities of catalase in the foot were usually associated with extremely high activities of both forms of GPx. In conclusion, maintenance of relatively high activities of the antioxidant enzymes and accumulation of glutathione, resulting in a low and stable concentration of TBARS, plays an important role in scavenging oxygen free radicals from the organism of both species.