Liver cell calcium homeostasis in carbon tetrachloride liver cell injury: new data with fura2

[Learning toxicology from carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity]

The mechanism of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatotoxicity, especially necrosis and fatty liver, has long been a challenging subject of many researchers from various fields over the past 50 years. Even though the mechanisms of tissue damages are different among chemicals and affected tissues, CCl4 has played a role as a key substance of tissue injury. A number of studies have been conducted and various hypotheses have been raised. As a result, several important basic mechanisms of tissue damages have emerged, involving metabolic activation, reactive free radical metabolites, lipid peroxidation, covalent binding and disturbance of calcium homeostasis. Recent studies also revealed inflammation and regeneration as important modification factors in the tissue injury. The author attempted to summarize the history of CCl4 research with some emphasis on the experiments done by the author and his colleagues. Their studies with isolated perfused rat liver suggest that covalent binding of CCl4 metabolites rather than lipid peroxidation has a significant role in the production of centrilobular necrosis following CCl4 administration. Further studies are necessary to unveil detailed mechanisms of hepatocyte necrosis induced by CCl4.

Carbon tetrachloride-induced cell death in perfused livers from phenobarbital-pretreated rats under hypoxic conditions and various ionic milieu. Further evidence for calcium-dependent irreversible changes

The role of Ca2+ in the initiation of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) hepatotoxicity was studied using perfused livers isolated from phenobarbital-pretreated rats in a single-pass system. Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate buffer containing 1.3 mM CaCl2 (KHB) was the regular ionic milieu. In the liver perfused with fructose-supplemented regular KHB equilibrated with 95% N2-5% CO2, infusion of 0.5 mM CCl4 caused an early uptake of Ca2+ coupled with K+ leakage and Na+ uptake within the infusion time of 30 min, which was followed by a marked lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage into the effluent perfusate and further Ca2+ uptake by the liver. With Ca(2+)-free medium, the prenecrotic K+ leakage and the successive LDH leakage were suppressed markedly. However, a perfusate exchange from regular to Ca(2+)-free KHB at the end of the prenecrotic stage did not protect against the LDH leakage, and the perfusate exchange conversely did not produce LDH leakage. Perfusion of the liver with high K+(Cl-) medium under 20% O2 markedly suppressed CCl4-induced LDH leakage even in the presence of Ca2+, whereas once CCl4 had acted under regular KHB perfusion, changing the medium to high K+ did not further prevent the LDH leakage. High K(+)-lactobionic acid medium containing Ca2+ and supplemented with fructose also suppressed LDH leakage under 95% N2 without the accompanying prenecrotic Ca2+ uptake. However, a change of the medium after CCl4 infusion to regular KHB containing Ca2+ caused LDH leakage and K+ leakage, with Ca2+ uptake. The prevention of LDH leakage in a different ionic milieu may not be due to suppression of CCl4 bioactivation, since the liver cytochrome P450 content decreased to a similar extent. These findings suggest that entry of extracellular Ca2+ into hepatocytes coupled with K+ leakage and Na+ entry is a prerequisite for CCl4-induced hepatocyte death and that association of Ca2+ with a CCl4-derived radical-mediated process may be necessary for early and irreversible plasma membrane damage.

Phospholipase A2 activation and cell injury in isolated rat hepatocytes exposed to bromotrichloromethane, chloroform, and 1,1-dichloroethylene as compared to effects of carbon tetrachloride

It was found that the four toxigenic agents, CCl4, CHCl3, CBrCl3, and 1,1-dichloroethylene (vinylidene chloride) all share the property of activating phospholipase A2 (PLA2) of isolated hepatocytes in suspension, as determined over a 60- or 120-min time period. In all cases, PLA2 activation, measured as the appearance of lysophosphatidylethanolamine, preceded the release of lactic dehydrogenase during incubation of the cells at 37 degrees C. It is concluded that for these halogenated hydrocarbons phospholipase A2 activation may be part of the chain of causality leading from initial bioactivation to ultimate cell death.

Menadione inhibits the alpha 1-adrenergic receptor-mediated increase in cytosolic free calcium concentration in hepatocytes by inhibiting inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-dependent release of calcium from intracellular stores

In order to establish the mechanism of perturbation of hormonally regulated calcium homeostasis in hepatocytes caused by menadione, the effects of menadione on hepatic alpha 1-adrenergic receptors and on alpha 1-adrenergic receptor-mediated increase in cytosolic free calcium concentration were determined. Menadione had no detectable effect on the alpha 1-adrenergic receptor but significantly inhibited (-)-epinephrine-dependent increases in intracellular free calcium concentration in Quin2 acetoxymethyl ester-loaded hepatocytes. The hormonally induced increase in intracellular free calcium concentration is caused by formation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) which binds to a specific receptor and causes a release of intracellular ATP-dependently sequestrated calcium. The IP3-stimulated release of calcium from intracellular pools in hepatocytes was inhibited to a great extent after treatment with menadione. This inhibition could also be observed after treatment of hepatocytes with p-benzoquinone and N-ethylmaleimide and could not be reversed by the thiol-reducing reagent dithiothreitol which indicated covalent binding to an essential free sulfhydryl group. The inhibition of IP3-dependent release of intracellular calcium was accompanied by a large increase in the number of detectable IP3 receptors without any change in the dissociation constant as determined in permeabilized hepatocytes. The increase in IP3 receptors caused by menadione could be reversed by dithiothreitol which suggests the involvement of free sulfhydryl groups. It is concluded that the IP3 receptor plays an important role in the mechanism of menadione-induced perturbation of hormonally regulated calcium homeostasis in rat hepatocytes.

Mitochondrial damage by active oxygen species in vitro

Under in vitro conditions involving formation of active oxygen species, rat liver mitochondria were found to undergo swelling, peroxidative decomposition of lipids, and distinct disorganization of ultrastructure. Supplementation with free radical scavengers such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), methionine, histidine, and tryptophan accorded considerable protection to the organelle. A possible correlation between oxygen radicals, membrane integrity, and calcium functions is indicated.

Effects of oxygen deficiency and calcium omission on carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity in isolated perfused livers from phenobarbital-pretreated rats

The effect of oxygen concentration and Ca2+ omission on CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity was studied in a non-recirculating and hemoglobin-free liver perfusion system using phenobarbital-pretreated rats. With 95% O2-saturated perfusate, infusion of 0.5 mM CCl4 caused an instantaneous increase of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBA-RS) in the effluent perfusate, accompanied by only a slight leakage of K+ and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). CBrCl3 produced a far greater increase in the TBA-RS level, but again with slight K+ and LDH leakage. With 20% O2-saturated perfusate, CCl4 caused a marked LDH leakage, which was preceded by an early and considerable increase in K+ leakage coupled with Na+ uptake, Ca2+ uptake was initially slight, being enhanced concurrently with the LDH leakage. The TBA-RS level changed biphasically with an initial moderate and a succeeding greater increase coupled with LDH leakage. N,N"-Diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine and promethazine suppressed the TBA-RS production, but improved neither K+ nor LDH leakage. Omission of the Ca2+ from the perfusate reduced the initial K+ leakage as well as the later TBA-RS release, and markedly delayed the LDH leakage. In retrograde perfusion under low oxygen supply with Ca2+, CCl4 produced essentially the same toxic manifestations as those observed in the anterograde perfusion. Hepatocytes of the periportal and pericentral areas were not stained with trypan blue in the antero- and retrograde perfusion systems respectively. Thus, oxygen deficiency, rather than lipid peroxidation by itself, and the essential role of extracellular Ca2+ may be important for CCl4-induced hepatic cell necrosis, in which plasma membrane permeability change may be an early and critical event.

Three models of free radical-induced cell injury

Three models of free radical-induced cell injury are presented in this review. Each model is described by the mechanism of action of few prototype toxic molecules. Carbon tetrachloride and monobromotrichloromethane were selected as model molecules for alkylating agents that do not induce GSH depletion. Bromobenzene and allyl alcohol were selected as prototypes of GSH depleting agents. Paraquat and menadione were presented as prototypes of redox cycling compounds. All these groups of toxins are converted, during their intracellular metabolism, to active species which can be radical species or electrophilic intermediates. In most cases the activation is catalyzed by the microsomal mixed function oxidase system, while in other cases (e.g. allyl alcohol) cytosolic enzymes are responsible for the activation. Radical species can bind covalently to cellular macromolecules and can promote lipid peroxidation in cellular membranes. Of course both phenomena produce cell damage as in the case of CCl4 or BrCCl3 intoxication. However, the covalent binding is likely to produce damage at the molecular site where it occurs; lipid peroxidation, on the other hand, besides causing loss of membrane structure, also gives rise to toxic products such as 4-hydroxyalkenals and other aldehydes which in principle can move from the site of origin and produce effects at distant sites. Electrophilic intermediates readily reacts with cellular nucleophiles, primarily with GSH. The result is a severe GSH depletion as in the case of bromobenzene or allyl alcohol intoxication. When the depletion reaches some threshold values lipid peroxidation develops abruptly and in an extensive way. This event is accompanied by cellular death. The reason for which lipid peroxidation develops in a cell severely depleted of GSH remains to be clarified. Probably the loss of the defense systems against a constitutive oxidative stress is not compatible with cellular life. Some free radicals generated by one-electron reduction can react with oxygen to give superoxide anions which can be converted to other more dangerous reactive oxygen species. This is the case of paraquat and menadione. Damage to cellular macromolecules is due to the direct action of these oxygen radicals and, at least in the menadione-induced cytotoxicity, lipid peroxidation is not involved. All these initial events affect the protein sulfhydryl groups in the membranes. Since some protein thiols are essential components of the molecular arrangement responsible for the Ca2+ transport across cellular membranes, loss of such thiols can affect the calcium sequestration activity of subcellular compartments, that is the capacity of mitochondria and microsomes to regulate the cytosolic calcium level.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)