Thiobarbituric acid-reactive malondialdehyde formation during superoxide-dependent, iron-catalyzed lipid peroxidation: influence of peroxidation conditions

Short cerebral ischemia and subsequent reperfusion and treatment with stobadine

Lipid peroxidation and activities of antioxidative enzymes were studied in the brain cortex after short (15 min) cerebral ischemia and reperfusion (10 min) in rats. Conjugated dienes (CD) and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) were significantly elevated in the group of rats with ischemia followed by reperfusion in comparison to the ischemic animals. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity significantly increased in the group of animals with ischemia and reperfusion. No significant changes in the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GP) were observed. Stobadine administered before ischemia or before reperfusion decreased the level of TBARS. Stobadine probably prevents malondialdehyde (MDA) formation from hydroperoxide or might elevate the activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase. In contradiction to the findings after long-lasting (4 h) ischemia and subsequent reperfusion, no decrease in the concentration of CD or in the activity of SOD or GP was found.

Lipid peroxidation and tumor growth: an inverse relationship

Lipid peroxidation may play a very important role in cell proliferation especially those of tumors. Secondary products of lipid peroxidation may interact in an inhibitory manner with various cell processes and/or cycle phases that are essential for cell division resulting in a decreased tumor growth rate by killing actively dividing cells of the growth fraction and probably increasing cell loss. The inhibitory or static action of diets containing elevated levels of fish oil on tumor growth may be via lipid peroxidation control over cell proliferation.

Effect of helium-neon laser irradiation on serum lipid peroxide concentrations in burnt mice

The effect of helium-neon irradiation on serum lipid peroxide concentrations in mice following 6-7% body surface area burns was investigated in a controlled study. Immediately following injury by an 8-sec 100 degrees C scalding, 25 mice were irradiated by a helium-neon laser at 0.05 J/cm2. A control group of the same size underwent identical treatment but received only sham irradiation. Serum lipid peroxide concentrations increased markedly in the control group at 0.5-4 h (P less than 0.0001, two sample t-test). In the laser treated group, the lipid peroxide concentrations remained relatively constant and were significantly depressed relative to the control group 4 h following burning (P less than 0.0001, two-sample t-test).

Hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress to the mammalian heart-muscle cell (cardiomyocyte): lethal peroxidative membrane injury

Oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) may contribute to the pathogenesis of ischemic-reperfusion injury in the heart. For the purpose of investigating directly the injury potential of H2O2 on heart muscle, a cellular model of H2O2-induced myocardial oxidative stress was developed. This model employed primary monolayer cultures of intact, beating neonatal-rat cardiomyocytes and discrete concentrations of reagent H2O2 in defined, supplement-free culture medium. Cardiomyocytes challenged with H2O2 readily metabolized it such that the culture content of H2O2 diminished over time, but was not depleted. The consequent H2O2-induced oxidative stress caused lethal sarcolemmal disruption (as measured by lactate dehydrogenase release), and cardiomyocyte integrity could be preserved by catalase. During oxidative stress, a spectrum of cellular derangements developed, including membrane phospholipid peroxidation, thiol oxidation, consumption of the major chain-breaking membrane antiperoxidant (alpha-tocopherol), and ATP loss. No net change in the protein or phospholipid contents of cardiomyocyte membranes accompanied H2O2-induced oxidative stress, but an increased turnover of these membrane constituents occurred in response to H2O2. Development of lethal cardiomyocyte injury during H2O2-induced oxidative stress did not require the presence of H2O2 itself; a brief "pulse" exposure of the cardiomyocytes to H2O2 was sufficient to incite the pathogenic mechanism leading to cell disruption. Cardiomyocyte disruption was dependent upon an intracellular source of redox-active iron and the iron-dependent transformation of internalized H2O2 into products (e.g., the hydroxyl radical) capable of initiating lipid peroxidation, since iron chelators and hydroxyl-radical scavengers were cytoprotective. The accelerated turnover of cardiomyocyte-membrane protein and phospholipid was inhibited by antiperoxidants, suggesting that the turnover reflected molecular repair of oxidized membrane constitutents. Likewise, the consumption of alpha-tocopherol and the oxidation of cellular thiols appeared to be epiphenomena of peroxidation. Antiperoxidant interventions coordinately abolished both H2O2-induced lipid peroxidation and sarcolemmal disruption, demonstrating that an intimate pathogenic relationship exists between sarcolemmal peroxidation and lethal compromise of cardiomyocyte integrity in response to H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Although sarcolemmal peroxidation was causally related to cardiomyocyte disruption during H2O2-induced oxidative stress, a nonperoxidative route of H2O2 cytotoxicity was also identified, which was expressed in the complete absence of cardiomyocyte-membrane peroxidation. The latter mode of H2O2-induced cardiomyocyte injury involved ATP loss such that membrane peroxidation and cardiomyocyte disruption on the one hand and cellular de-energization on the other could be completely dissociated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Simple and specific test for measuring lipid peroxides in plasma

The specificity of an iodometric assay for measuring lipid peroxides in lipoproteins was tested, compared with the fluorimetric thiobarbituric acid assay, and adopted for detecting lipid peroxide in plasma samples. Oxidation of low density lipoproteins in vitro by Cu2+, lipoxidase, and phagocytosing polymorphonuclear leucocytes was sensitively detected by the iodometric assay. Unlike the thiobarbituric acid assay, neither non-lipid substances commonly present in plasma, nor platelet or polymorphonuclear leucocyte by-products interfered with the iodometric assay. The iodometric assay measured a normal mean (SD) plasma lipid peroxide concentration of 10.8 (2.1) microM; n = 63. Two weeks after the start of a high cholesterol diet in rabbits (n = 5), a sixfold increase in plasma lipid peroxide concentrations was measured by iodometric assay. The specificity of a simple and sensitive iodometric test of lipid peroxidation was superior to that of the thiobarbituric acid assay. This iodometric assay should therefore provide a much more accurate assessment of lipid peroxide in plasma samples.

Free radical-induced alterations of myocardial membrane proteins

Rat myocardial membranes exposed to the free radical-generating systems, Fe2+/ascorbate, Cu2+/t-butylhydro-peroxide, linoleic acid hydroperoxide, and soybean lipoxygenase (Type I) undergo lipid peroxidation. This is evidenced by the accumulation of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and the loss of both extractable phospholipids and their polyunsaturated acyl groups. Lipid peroxidation is accompanied by alterations of membrane proteins including the general loss of polypeptides and accumulation of high-molecular weight material. The most sensitive protein is a polypeptide with a molecular weight of 28 kDa. At low levels of oxidation, this protein moves incrementally to slightly higher apparent molecular weight. At higher oxidant levels or longer periods of oxidation, the protein disappears completely from the SDS-PAGE gel. The "28K reaction" occurs prior to the massive, oxidant-induced lipid alterations and may thus indicate specific adduct formation between this protein and certain peroxidized membrane phospholipids.

Analysis of aldehydic lipid peroxidation products by TLC/densitometry

We have explored the use of thin-layer chromatography (TLC)/densitometry in both the reflectance and fluorescence mode for quantitation of specific products of lipid peroxidation. Aldehydic peroxidation products were generated by exposure of arachidonic acid to iron and ascorbic acid for 24 hr. Several methods for the quantitative analysis of peroxidation products by TLC/densitometry were compared using two different aldehyde-specific derivatizing reagents, namely dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) and cyclohexanedione (CHD). DNPH hydrazones of the arachidonic acid-peroxidation products, upon TLC separation on silica gel, revealed prominent alkanal and hydroxyalkenal bands. Reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography confirmed that the primary alkanal component was hexanal, while the primary hydroxyalkenal was 4-hydroxynoneal. Semiquantitative methods for the direct analysis of these products by TLC/densitometry were worked out based on the use of external hydrazone standards. TLC/densitometry (fluorescence mode) was used to measure CHD adducts of aldehydes by forming the derivatives in the presence of decanal (used as an internal standard) and separating the derivatives by reverse phase TLC. Hexanal-CHD was detectable upon application of 0.5 nanomoles while 4-hydroxynoneal showed a lower response and was detectable with 10 nanomoles. Using appropriate response factors, hexanal and 4-hydroxynonenal were measured in the aldehyde sample from arachidonic acid and results were similar to those obtained by the DNPH method. Similar approaches were used to analyze the peroxidation products of docosahexaenoic acid (24-hr exposure) and of rat liver microsomes exposed to iron for 30 min. The DHA peroxidation products contained extremely low levels of alkanals, while polar aldehydes and hydroxyalkenals were prominent. Formation of alkanals, osa-zones, hydroxyalkenals and phospholipid aldehydes from iron-expoded microsomes was also demonstrated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Therapeutic potential of vitamin E in the pathogenesis of spontaneous atherosclerosis

Spontaneous atherosclerosis is largely an occlusive disease of medium-size arteries whose progression in a hyperlipidemic environment reflects chronic interactions among injury stimuli to the vessel wall and "responses to injury" by vascular tissue and certain blood components. Development of vessel lesions in animal models of spontaneous atherosclerosis and (at least in principle) in man largely reflects responses of three major cell types (vascular endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, monocytes-macrophages) as well as the content and distribution of lipids among various lipoprotein subclasses and the increased atherogenicity of modified (e.g., oxidized) lipoproteins. The severe clinical complications associated with spontaneous atherosclerosis, along with its rather common incidence in man, have focused attention on the prevention and therapy of this vascular disease state. Some pharmacological studies in animal models of spontaneous atherosclerosis and some retrospective epidemiological studies in man suggest that vitamin E, the principal (if not sole) lipid-soluble chain-breaking tissue antioxidant, might have therapeutic benefit as an antiatherosclerotic agent. This suggestion gains support from a variety of compelling in vitro evidence demonstrating direct influences of vitamin E on cells and lipoproteins likely involved in the pathogenesis of spontaneous atherosclerosis. Biochemical and cellular data indicate that the potential antiatherogenic activity of vitamin E could reflect its activities as a regulator of endothelial, smooth muscle, or monocyte-macrophage function, an inhibitor of endothelial membrane lipid peroxidation, a modulator of plasma lipid levels and lipid distribution among circulating lipoproteins, and a preventor of lipoprotein oxidative modification. On the other hand, there is a comparative lack of conclusive evidence from animal models regarding: (a) the importance to atherogenesis of vascular and cellular processes modulated by vitamin E; (b) the influence of vitamin E on these processes in vivo and, consequently, on the initiation/progression of spontaneous atherosclerosis. Therefore, pharmacologic investigation of vitamin E (and synthetic, vitamin E-like antioxidants) in nutritional and hyperlipidemic animal models of spontaneous atherosclerosis is required to establish whether any atherosclerotic impact is associated with vitamin E and, if so, what the mechanistic basis of the therapeutic benefit is. Such a line of experimental inquiry should also increase our understanding of the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic vessel disease per se.

Determination of malonaldehyde in oxidized biological materials by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was used to determine the level of malonaldehyde (MA) in materials containing unsaturated fatty acids and rat liver microsomes peroxidized in vitro. The detection limit was 8.3 pmol for fatty acid samples and 25 pmol for microsomal samples. The method was specific to MA and the relative standard deviation was 4.34-5.14%. The recovery of MA was about 100%. In general, the MA values in oxidized materials obtained by the proposed HPLC method were lower than those obtained by the thiobarbituric acid method, although similar results were obtained with both methods for microsomal samples oxidized by NADPH. The effect of temperature on the HPLC results was investigated and it was found that the MA values obtained by derivatization at 25 degrees C, followed by separation using HPLC, reflected the situation of the peroxidation more accurately.

Novel 6-hydroxychroman-2-carbonitrile inhibitors of membrane peroxidative injury

Novel 6-hydroxychroman-2-carbonitrile compounds have been synthesized, and their antiperoxidant activity against superoxide-dependent, iron-promoted mycocardial phospholipid peroxidation has been evaluated quantitatively. With few exceptions, these compounds afforded significant, concentration-dependent antiperoxidant protection to myocardial-membrane phospholipid at sub- to low-micromolar concentrations. Structure-activity correlation demonstrated that R1-, R2-, and R3-methyl groups in the aromatic ring enhanced antiperoxidant activity, whereas hydrophobic groups at either R4 or R5 of the pyran ring compromised antiperoxidant efficacy. The most efficacious antiperoxidant synthesized contained a catechol moiety at R4 and was some 10-fold more potent than alpha-tocopherol. None of the 6-hydroxychroman-2-carbonitrile antiperoxidants scavenged superoxide or inhibited the enzymatic superoxide generator, xanthine oxidase, at effective antiperoxidant concentrations. The ability of these compounds to interrupt the propagatory phase of an on-going peroxidation reaction indicated that they acted as antiperoxidants by trapping chain-carrying lipid peroxyl radicals. Since a number of the 6-hydroxychroman-2-carbonitriles were most potent antiperoxidants than a variety of known chain-breaking compounds, this new class of phenolic antioxidants may represent a novel approach to the design of therapeutics against diseases in which lipid peroxidation is a causative factor or in which lipid peroxidases serve as mediators.

Peroxidative modification of phospholipids in myocardial membranes

Rat heart myocardial membranes exposed to the free radical generating system, Fe2+/ascorbate, undergo lipid peroxidation as evidenced by the accumulation of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, loss of polyunsaturated fatty acids from phospholipids, and formation of conjugated dienes and fluorescent substances. In addition, the treated membranes exhibit a dramatic decrease in extractable phospholipids. This decrease is even more pronounced in individual phospholipid classes isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography. The decrease in lipid phosphorus under oxidant stress is accompanied by an increase in the phosphorus content of the aqueous phase after Folch extraction and by an even greater increase of phosphorus in the protein residue. In addition, increased amounts of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acyl groups are found in the protein residue of Fe2+/ascorbate-treated membranes. Extraction of the oxidant-treated membranes with acidic solvents does not enhance the recovery of phospholipids and neither does treatment with detergents, trypsin, and chymotrypsin prior to lipid extraction. However, treatment with the bacterial protease, Pronase, markedly enhances the recovery of phospholipids from the peroxidized membranes. These results indicate that membrane phospholipids undergoing free radical-induced peroxidation may form lipid-protein adducts, which renders them inextractable with lipid solvents.

Malondialdehyde and thiobarbituric acid-reactivity as diagnostic indices of lipid peroxidation and peroxidative tissue injury

Increasing appreciation of the causative role of oxidative injury in many disease states places great importance on the reliable assessment of lipid peroxidation. Malondialdehyde (MDA) is one of several low-molecular-weight end products formed via the decomposition of certain primary and secondary lipid peroxidation products. At low pH and elevated temperature, MDA readily participates in nucleophilic addition reaction with 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA), generating a red, fluorescent 1:2 MDA:TBA adduct. These facts, along with the availability of facile and sensitive methods to quantify MDA (as the free aldehyde or its TBA derivative), have led to the routine use of MDA determination and, particularly, the "TBA test" to detect and quantify lipid peroxidation in a wide array of sample types. However, MDA itself participates in reactions with molecules other than TBA and is a catabolic substrate. Only certain lipid peroxidation products generate MDA (invariably with low yields), and MDA is neither the sole end product of fatty peroxide formation and decomposition nor a substance generated exclusively through lipid peroxidation. Many factors (e.g., stimulus for and conditions of peroxidation) modulate MDA formation from lipid. Additional factors (e.g., TBA-test reagents and constituents) have profound effects on test response to fatty peroxide-derived MDA. The TBA test is intrinsically nonspecific for MDA; nonlipid-related materials as well as fatty peroxide-derived decomposition products other than MDA are TBA positive. These and other considerations from the extensive literature on MDA. TBA reactivity, and oxidative lipid degradation support the conclusion that MDA determination and the TBA test can offer, at best, a narrow and somewhat empirical window on the complex process of lipid peroxidation. The MDA content and/or TBA reactivity of a system provides no information on the precise structures of the "MDA precursor(s)," their molecular origins, or the amount of each formed. Consequently, neither MDA determination nor TBA-test response can generally be regarded as a diagnostic index of the occurrence/extent of lipid peroxidation, fatty hydroperoxide formation, or oxidative injury to tissue lipid without independent chemical evidence of the analyte being measured and its source. In some cases, MDA/TBA reactivity is an indicator of lipid peroxidation; in other situations, no qualitative or quantitative relationship exists among sample MDA content, TBA reactivity, and fatty peroxide tone. Utilization of MDA analysis and/or the TBA test and interpretation of sample MDA content and TBA test response in studies of lipid peroxidation require caution, discretion, and (especially in biological systems) correlative data from other indices of fatty peroxide formation and decomposition.