POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF LIPID PEROXIDES IN TISSUE AND TOCOPHEROL DEFICIENT ANIMALS

Erythrocyte membrane-bound acetylcholinesterase in vitamin E deficient rabbits

1. The specific activities of erythrocyte membrane-bound acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7.) and soluble hexokinase (EC 2.7.1.1.) in vitamin E deficient and vitamin E sufficient rabbits were investigated. 2. Acetylcholinesterase specific activities values of 43.4 in deficient and 57.4 in sufficient vitamin E rabbits were obtained. Hexokinase specific activity was not modified, and values of 3.31 in deficient and 3.6 in controls were found. 3. No peroxidation process was detected by us on vitamin E deficient diets. 4. These observations would suggest that the membrane stabilizing effect of vitamin E may be accomplished by a mode of action not necessarily related to its ability to prevent lipid peroxidation.

Photoreceptor outer segment and retinal pigment epithelium in vitamin E deficient rats. An electron microscopic and electron histochemical study

The photoreceptor outer segments and retinal pigment epithelium of vitamin E deficient rats were examined by electron microscope using electron histochemical techniques. In rats fed a vitamin E deficient diet for more than 6 months starting 20 days after birth, the photoreceptor outer segment showed vesiculation of the discs near the apical portion of the retinal pigment epithelium. In the retinal pigment epithelium, secondary lysosomes were increased in number. Reaction products of acid phosphatase activity were located in secondary lysosomes in the retinal pigment epithelium and on the disc membranes of the photoreceptor outer segment. These alterations became more prominent with the duration of vitamin E deficiency. It was assumed that the disc degeneration of the photoreceptor outer segment might be due to enhanced activity of lysosomal enzymes in the retinal pigment epithelium and the effect of released lysomal enzymes on the photoreceptor outer segment.

On the existence and significance of lipid peroxides in vitamin E-deficient animals

1. A micro-adaptation of the iodimetric method has been used to determine lipid peroxides in the tissues of vitamin E-deficient rats and chicks.

2. No increases in lipid peroxide were found in liver, kidney or adipose tissue of rats with nutritional liver necrosis due to deficiency of vitamin E and selenium. When liver necrosis was induced by giving rats a casein diet and silver acetate solution to drink, the peroxide value of the adipose tissue was not increased.

3. Degeneration of the testes of vitamin E-deficient rats was not accompanied by a rise in the peroxide value of the tissue lipids.

4. There was an increase in cathepsin activity of the kidneys of rats displaying the phenomenon of renal autolysis (post mortem), but there was no increase in lipid peroxide content.

5. No rise in lipid peroxide was found in dystrophic chick breast muscle, in cerebellum, brain and adipose tissue of chicks with encephalomalacia nor in the liver of chicks with exudative diathesis.

6. In rat liver, kidney, testis and leg muscle, peroxide values in the range 10–40 µ-equiv./g lipid were found, and these values were not altered either by a substantial change in the degree of unsaturation of the dietary lipid or by the addition of vitamin E to the diet. Dietary addition of N, N'-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPPD) or 6-ethoxy-1, 2-dihydro-2,2,4-trime-thylquinoline (ethoxyquin) also failed to affect the peroxide value of liver. The possibility that lipid peroxide is a normal metabolite of these tissues is discussed.

7. Peroxide values of rat adipose tissue were never found to be greater than 40 µ-equiv./g lipid and were readily decreased by the addition of vitamin E to the diet or by a decrease in the unsaturation of the dietary lipid. The peroxide content of this tissue may depend upon the up-take of peroxidized dietary lipid.

8. The conclusion from this study of true lipid peroxides in animal tissues is that the biological role of vitamin E is not connected with lipid peroxidation in vivo, in agreement with our previous studies on the metabolism of the fatty acid substrates of peroxidation and of α-tocopherol and other postulated biological antioxidants.

Alterations in microsomal electron transport, oxidative N-demethylation and azo-dye cleavage in carbon tetrachloride and dimethylnitrosamine-induced liver injury

The effect of administration of carbon tetrachloride and dimethylnitrosamine in vivo on hepatic microsomal function related to drug metabolism was measured. It was found that the capacity of isolated microsomes to demethylate dimethylaniline was diminished during the first hour after carbon tetrachloride poisoning and during the second hour after dimethylnitrosamine poisoning. Thereafter the microsomes from carbon tetrachloride-poisoned livers showed a continuous decline in activity so that at 24hr. there was little residual capacity to undertake demethylation. Microsomes from dimethylnitrosamine-poisoned animals were not different from controls at 24hr. During the first 3hr. there was a transient rise in the accumulation of the N-oxide intermediate in carbon tetrachloride-poisoned livers, with a subsequent fall to below control values. In dimethylnitrosamine poisoning there was a parallel decrease in N-oxide accumulation with decreased demethylation. In the latter part of the first 24hr. the ratio of N-oxide accumulation to demethylation was increased in both instances. At 2hr. after poisoning with either compound there was no evidence of altered NADPH(2)-dependent neotetrazolium reduction or lipid peroxidation. NADPH(2)-dependent azo-dye cleavage was decreased. There was no difference in microsomal cytochrome b(5) content, but there was a decrease in the amount of cytochrome P-450. This latter change was correlated with the decreased capacity for NADPH(2)-dependent oxidative demethylation. It is suggested that dimethylnitrosamine is associated with a defect in microsomal NADPH(2)-dependent electron transport at the level of cytochrome P-450. In addition to affecting cytochrome P-450, carbon tetrachloride is associated with a second severe block involving the release of formaldehyde from the N-oxide intermediate.

Autoxidation of tissue lipids. I. Incorporation of dietary fatty acids and formation of monocarbonyl compounds in adipose tissue lipids of the vitamin E-deficient rat

Male weanling rats were fed vitamin E-deficient and vitamin E-supplemented diets containing 5% corn oil or cod-liver oil for 16 weeks, after which their adipose tissue lipids were extracted and analyzed in a nitrogen atmosphere for carbonyl compounds and fatty acids.The vitamin E-deficient cod-liver oil-fed rats, exhibiting incisor depigmentation and darkened adipose tissue, yielded lipids which had a lower iodine value, contained less polyunsaturated fatty acids, and contained more carbonyl compounds, particularly alkanals and alk-2-enals, than the lipids from the animals fed the vitamin E-supplemented cod-liver oil diet. The tissues of the vitamin E-deficient corn oil-fed rats contained less linoleate and more monocarbonyl compounds than those of the vitamin E-supplemented corn oil-fed animals.The results indicate that vitamin E protection is necessary for the incorporation of C(20) and C(22) fatty acids into the tissues from the diet and that in the deficiency of vitamin E, a low level of autoxidation occurs in the tissues.