Vitamin E and hepatotoxic agents. 1. Carbon tetrachloride and lipid peroxidation in the rat

1. It has been suggested that carbon tetrachloride damages rat liver by accelerating processes of lipid peroxidation at subcellular sites and that the protective action of vitamin E is due to its functioning as an antioxidant in vivo. Direct evidence for these mechanisms in vivo has been sought and is critically examined.

2. The increased production of malondialdehyde by rat liver microsomal fractions during incubation with CCl4 was shown to be a function of the vitamin E status of the rat and of an in vitro reaction, which could not be correlated with the hepatotoxic action of CCI4.

3. Evidence for the production of lipid peroxides by CCl4 in the livers of vitamin E-deficient and vitamin E-supplemented rats was sought (I) by measurement of ultraviolet spectral changes ('diene' formation) and (2) by direct micro-iodimetric determination of the peroxide. No differences in peroxide content were found between CC14-treated and control rats, nor were the spectrophotometric changes in the ultraviolet region related to the presence of vitamin E.

4. The effect of CCI4 (2.0 ml/kg orally) on ATP levels in rat liver was studied at intervals from 3 to 68 h. The primary lesion leading to necrosis and fat accumulation after CCl4 treatment occurred many hours before the eventual slight decline in ATP. Although the levels of ATP were somewhat higher in vitamin E-deficient rats, vitamin E did not prevent the slight decline in ATP that took place. Since ATP is known to be highly sensitive to peroxidation, the results suggest that lipid peroxidation is not the primary event in CCl4 poisoning.

5. The effect of CC14on the metabolism of [14C]D-α-tocopherol in the rat was studied. A single intraperitoneal dose of CCl4 (2.0 m/kg) did not increase the destruction of α-tocopherol in the liver or carcass after 24 h. Three smaller daily doses of CC14 (0.25 ml/kg) also did not increase α-tocopherol catabolism; on the contrary, significantly more α-tocopherol was found in the livers of rats treated with CCI4. These results suggest that CCl4 does not increase lipid peroxidation in vivo.

Vitamin E and hepatotoxic agents. 2. Lipid peroxidation and poisoning with orotic acid, ethanol and thioacetamide in rats

1. Fatty liver was induced in 4-month-old male rats by oral dosing with ethanol. The marked increase in liver fat was not accompanied by a rise in lipid peroxides.

2. Homogenates were prepared from the livers of vitamin E-deficient rats and incubated with ethanol. In the concentration range of 10–50 μl/3 ml, ethanol increased the production of malondialdehyde. Methanol, which is not a hepatotoxin, showed a similar effect at 10–35 μl/3 ml homogenate. These findings indicate that the pro-oxidative effect of alcohols in vitro is unrelated to their hepatotoxic action in vivo.

3. Fatty liver was induced in 3.g-month-old, vitamin E-deficient male rats by oral dosingwith ethanol. The effect of pretreatment with vitamin E and N,N'-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPPD) was studied. D-α-Tocopheryl acetate, given as three doses of 350 mg/kg at 48, 24 and 2 h before the ethanol, failed to decrease the fat accumulation and seemed rather to increase the fat content of the liver. DPPD, given as three doses of 600 mg'kg at similar intervals before the ethanol dose, reduced the fat content of the liver almost to normal.

4. Weanling rats of both sexes were given a vitamin E-deficient diet containing 1% orotic acid for 15 days to induce fatty liver. Dietary supplements of D-a-tocopheryl acetate (500 ppm), selenium (I ppm) or DPPD (100 ppm) did not reduce the lipid accumulation. Lipid peroxides and malondialdehyde levels were lower in the livers of animals treated with orotic acid than in controls, regardless of the presence of vitamin E.

j. Liver necrosis was produced in 9-week-old female vitamin E-deficient rats by the intra-peritoneal injection of zoo mg thioacetamide. Promethazine hydrochloride (Phenergan), given intraperitoneally as two doses (25 mg/kg at the same time as the thioacetamide and 12.5 mg/kg 6 h later), markedly reduced the necrosis. D-α-Tocopheryl acetate, given as two oral doses of 1000mg/kg 48 h and 24 h before the thioacetamide, tended to exacerbate the necrosis.

6. The results are discussed in relation to the question of lipid peroxidation as a cause of hepatotoxicity.

Intracellular mechanisms for the decomposition of a lipid peroxide. II. Decomposition of a lipid peroxide by subcellular fractions

The properties of subcellular fractions of rat liver in catalyzing the decomposition of linoleic acid hydroperoxide have been compared with those of transition salts, heme compounds, and nucleophiles. The properties compared included the range of products produced, the pH dependence of the reaction, and the effects of metal-complexing agents, inhibitors, and hydrogen donors. It was concluded that the decomposition of the hydroperoxide in the liver cell was due principally to reaction with the intracellular nucleophile glutathione by a mechanism catalyzed by the enzyme glutathione peroxidase. In the absence of glutathione, however, both the mitochondrial and microsomal fractions decomposed the hydroperoxide presumably by a radical mechanism probably involving the cytochromes.

The action of gamma-ray-irradiated medium on bacteria: relation to the electron transport system

Gamma-ray-irradiated medium is found to produce an immediate slowing of respiration in cells of Escherichia coli 15 T-L-. It also introduces a lag in cell division that can be shortened by the presence of methylene blue and potassium cyanide. The lag is absent if the cells are grown anaerobically. These results suggest that the peroxides produced by irradiating medium block the electron transport system. Since cells concentrate peroxides, the loss of this function induced by bombardment was used to deduce the target molecular weight of the enzyme responsible. It is 73,000.