D-Galactose

D-Galactose is a natural aldohexose and C-4 epimer of glucose. In Vitro:Galactose is important for the survival and virulence of bacteria. In Escherichia coli galactose is utilized by the Leloir pathway. Two anomers of d-galactose are used for different purposes, α-d-galactose as a carbon source and β-d-galactose for induction of UDP-galactose synthesis for biosynthetic glycosylation^[1]. In Vivo:Note:
Please do not refer to only one article to determine the experimental conditions. It is recommended to determine the optimal experimental conditions (animal strain, age, dosage, frequency and cycle, detection time and indicators, etc.) through preliminary experiments before the formal experiment.

D-Galactose can be used in animal models to create subacute aging models in mice and cataract models in rats. Chronic D-galactose exposure induces neurodegeneration by enhancing caspase-mediated apoptosis and inhibiting neurogenesis and neuronal migration in mice, as well as increasing oxidative damage. Moreover, D-galactose-induced toxicity in mice serves as a useful model for studying the mechanisms of neurodegeneration and the evaluation of neuroprotective drugs and agents. Oral administration of D-galactose leads to cognitive impairment in rats, accompanied by oxidative damage. Cognitive impairments are observed in the open field test at the 4th and 6th weeks post-administration, and spatial memory deficits are noted in the radial arm maze test after the 6th week. D-Galactose is a classic agent for inducing subacute aging and cataract models. D-galactose alters protein and peptide structures by reacting with their free amino groups, leading to the accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) during nonenzymatic glycation.