A bis-cyclodextrin diselenide with glutathione peroxidase-like activity

A diselenide, 2,2'-diseleno-bis-beta-cyclodextrin (2-SeCD), was synthesized to imitate the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPX). The GPX mimic accepts a variety of hydroperoxides as substrates. The GPX activities, reduction of H(2)O(2), tert-butyl hydroperoxide and cumenyl hydroperoxide by glutathione, are 7.4, 4.5 and 10.2 U/micromol, respectively. In contrast to ebselen (PZ51), the diselenide displays high GPX-like activity. The reduction of hydroperoxide by glutathione in the presence of a radical trap shows that the mimic catalyzes the reaction via a non-radical mechanism. A ping-pong mechanism was observed in the steady-state kinetic studies of the 2-SeCD-catalyzed reaction.     

Induction of oxidative stress and GPX-like protein activation in tomato plants after mechanical stimulation

In Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. (cv. VFN8), mechanical stimulation induced a rapid and transient increase of with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), a part of an oxidative burst. The reaction was followed by an antioxidative response, with the involvement of phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPX)-like protein (EC 1.11.1.9). Induction of expression of two putative PHGPX genes was observed in rubbed internodes. To characterize the importance of this antioxidant gene, enzymatic activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and PHGPX were measured, respectively, H₂O₂ and hydroperoxide lipid as oxidant. Only PHGPX activities were induced by the mechanical treatment, suggesting a major role of PHGPX in the mechanisms of antioxidant defence in plant.     

Thermal acclimation, hydroperoxide detoxifying enzymes and oxidative stress in the lung and liver of Rana perezi

1. 1.Rana perezi adult frogs were acclimated to cold (10 ± 2°C) and warm (29 ± 1°C) temperatures for 4 months.

2. 2.After acclimation, a partial compensation of the oxygen consumption of the animals was found because of a reduction of its thermal sensitivity.

3. 3.Activities of liver and lung catalase, selenium (Se)-dependent and Se-independent glutathione peroxidases were not changed by thermal acclimation.

4. 4.Tissue peroxidation (TBA-RS) increased in the liver of heat acclimated animals.

5. 5.Hydroperoxide detoxifying enzyme activities did not show inverse compensation of temperature during acclimation. It is proposed that the pattern of thermal compensation shown by these enzymes in different species depends on a variety of factors including: (a) the thermal sensitivities of hydroperoxide producing and scavenging systems; (b) the changes induced by acclimation in the rate of hydroperoxide generation.

Lipid peroxidation in mitochondrial inner membranes. I. An integrative kinetic model

An integrative mathematical model was developed to obtain an overall picture of lipid hydroperoxide metabolism in the mitochondrial inner membrane and surrounding matrix environment. The model explicitly considers an aqueous and a membrane phase, integrates a wide set of experimental data, and unsupported assumptions were minimized. The following biochemical processes were considered: the classic reactional scheme of lipid peroxidation; antioxidant and pro-oxidant effects of vitamin E; pro-oxidant effects of iron; action of phospholipase A₂, glutathione-dependent peroxidases, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase; production of superoxide radicals by the mitochondrial respiratory chain; oxidative damage to proteins and DNA. Steady-state fluxes and concentrations as well as half-lives and mean displacements for the main metabolites were calculated. A picture of lipid hydroperoxide physiological metabolism in mitochondria in vivo showing the main pathways is presented. The main results are:(a) perhydroxyl radical is the main initiation agent of lipid peroxidation (with a flux of 10⁻⁷Ms⁻¹); (b) vitamin E efficiently inhibits lipid peroxidation keeping the amplification (kinetic chain length) of lipid peroxidation at low values (10); (c) only a very minor fraction of lipid hydroperoxides escapes reduction via glutathione-dependent peroxidases; (d) oxidized glutathione is produced mainly from the reduction of hydrogen peroxide and not from the reduction of lipid hydroperoxides.     

In vitro interactions of thallium with components of the glutathione-dependent antioxidant defence system

We investigated the hypothesis that thallium (Tl) interactions with the glutathione-dependent antioxidant defence system could contribute to the oxidative stress associated with Tl toxicity. Working in vitro with reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione reductase (GR) or glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in solution, we studied the effects of Tl⁺ and Tl³⁺ (1-25 μM) on: (a) the amount of free GSH, investigating whether the metal binds to GSH and/or oxidizes it; (b) the activity of the enzyme GR, that catalyzes GSH regeneration; and (c) the enzyme GPx, that reduces hydroperoxide at expense of GSH oxidation. We found that, while Tl⁺ had no effect on GSH concentration, Tl³⁺ oxidized it. Both cations inhibited the reduction of GSSG by GR and the diaphorase activity of this enzyme. In addition, Tl³⁺per se oxidized NADPH, the cofactor of GR. The effects of Tl on GPx activity depended on the metal charge: Tl⁺ inhibited GPx when cumene hydroperoxide (CuOOH) was the substrate, while Tl³⁺-mediated GPx inhibition occurred with both substrates. The present results show that Tl interacts with all the components of GSH/GSSG antioxidant defence system. Alterations of this protective pathway could be partially responsible for the oxidative stress associated with Tl toxicity.     

The role of human glutathione S-transferases hGSTA1-1 and hGSTA2-2 in protection against oxidative stress.

In order to elucidate the protective role of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) against oxidative stress, we have investigated the kinetic properties of the human alpha-class GSTs, hGSTA1-1 and hGSTA2-2, toward physiologically relevant hydroperoxides and have studied the role of these enzymes in glutathione (GSH)-dependent reduction of these hydroperoxides in human liver. We have cloned hGSTA1-1 and hGSTA2-2 from a human lung cDNA library and expressed both in Escherichia coli. Both isozymes had remarkably high peroxidase activity toward fatty acid hydroperoxides, phospholipid hydroperoxides, and cumene hydroperoxide. In general, the activity of hGSTA2-2 was higher than that of hGSTA1-1 toward these substrates. For example, the catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) of hGSTA1-1 for phosphatidylcholine (PC) hydroperoxide and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) hydroperoxide was found to be 181.3 and 199.6 s-1 mM-1, respectively, while the catalytic efficiency of hGSTA2-2 for PC-hydroperoxide and PE-hydroperoxide was 317.5 and 353 s-1 mM-1, respectively. Immunotitration studies with human liver extracts showed that the antibodies against human alpha-class GSTs immunoprecipitated about 55 and 75% of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity of human liver toward PC-hydroperoxide and cumene hydroperoxide, respectively. GPx activity was not immunoprecipitated by the same antibodies from human erythrocyte hemolysates. These results show that the alpha-class GSTs contribute a major portion of GPx activity toward lipid hydroperoxides in human liver. Our results also suggest that GSTs may be involved in the reduction of 5-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid, an important intermediate in the 5-lipoxygenase pathway.     

The selenoenzyme phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase

The reduction of membrane-bound hydroperoxides is a major factor acting against lipid peroxidation in living systems. This paper presents the characterization of the previously described 'peroxidation-inhibiting protein' as a 'phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase'. The enzyme is a monomer of 23 kDa (SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). It contains one gatom Se/22 000 g protein. Se is in the selenol form, as indicated by the inactivation experiments in the presence of iodoacetate under reducing conditions. The glutathione peroxidase activity is essentially the same on different phospholipids enzymatically hydroperoxidized by the use of soybean lipoxidase (EC 1.13.11.12) in the presence of deoxycholate. The kinetic data are compatible with a tert-uni ping-pong mechanism, as in the case of the 'classical' glutathione peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.9). The second-order rate constants (K1) for the reaction of the enzyme with the hydroperoxide substrates indicate that, while H2O2 is reduced faster by the glutathione peroxidase, linoleic acid hydroperoxide is reduced faster by the present enzyme. Moreover, the phospholipid hydroperoxides are reduced only by the latter. The dramatic stimulation exerted by Triton X-100 on the reduction of the phospholipid hydroperoxides suggests that this enzyme has an 'interfacial' character. The similarity of amino acid composition, Se content and kinetic mechanism, relative to the difference in substrate specificity, indicates that the two enzymes 'classical' glutathione peroxidase and phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase are in some way related. The latter is apparently specialized for lipophylic, interfacial substrates.     

Plant glutathione peroxidases

Oxidative stress in plants causes the induction of several enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1), ascorbate peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.11) and glutathione reductase (EC 1.6.4.2). The first two are responsible for converting superoxide to H₂O₂ and its subsequent reduction to H₂O, and the third is involved in recycling of ascorbate. Glutathione peroxidases (GPXs, EC 1.11.1.9) are a family of key enzymes involved in scavenging oxyradicals in animals. Only recently, indications for the existence of this enzyme in plants were reported. Genes with significant sequence homology to one member of the animal GPX family, namely phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPX), were isolated from several plants. Cit-SAP, the protein product encoded by the citrus csa gene, which is induced by salt-stress, is so far the only plant PHGPX that has been isolated and characterized. This protein differs from the animal PHGPX in its rate of enzymatic activity and in containing a Cys instead of selenocysteine (Sec) as its presumed catalytic residue. The physiological role of Cit-SAP and its homologs in other plants is not yet known.     

Protective action of phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase against membrane-damaging lipid peroxidation. In situ reduction of phospholipid and cholesterol hydroperoxides

The general reactivity of membrane lipid hydroperoxides (LOOHs) with the selenoenzyme phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPX) has been investigated. When human erythrocyte ghosts (lipid content: 60 wt % phospholipid; 25 wt % cholesterol) were treated with GSH/PHGPX subsequent to rose bengal-sensitized photoperoxidation, iodometrically measured LOOHs were totally reduced to alcohols. Similar treatment with the classic glutathione peroxidase (GPX) produced no effect unless the peroxidized membranes were preincubated with phospholipase A2 (PLA2). However, under these conditions, no more than approximately 60% of the LOOH was reduced; introduction of PHGPX brought the reaction to completion. Thin layer chromatographic analyses revealed that the GPX-resistant (but PHGPX-reactive) LOOH was cholesterol hydroperoxide (ChOOH) consisting mainly of the 5 alpha (singlet oxygen-derived) product. Membrane ChOOHs were reduced by GSH/PHGPX to species that comigrated with borohydride reduction products (diols). Sensitive quantitation of PHGPX-catalyzed ChOOH reduction was accomplished by using [14C]cholesterol-labeled ghosts. Kinetic analyses indicated that the rate of ChOOH decay was approximately 1/6 that of phospholipid hydroperoxide decay. Photooxidized ghosts underwent a large burst of free radical-mediated lipid peroxidation when incubation with ascorbate/iron or xanthine/xanthine oxidase/iron. These reactions were only partially inhibited by PLA2/GSH/GPX treatment, but totally inhibited by GSH/PHGPX treatment, consistent with complete elimination of LOOHs in the latter case. These findings provide important clues as to how ChOOHs are detoxified in cells and add new insights into PHGPX's protective role.     

Limited effectiveness of antioxidants in the protection of yeast defective in antioxidant proteins

Efficacy of several antioxidants in the protection of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants deficient in CuZnSOD and deficient in glutaredoxin 5 to growth restriction induced by oxidants was studied. Ascorbate and glutathione protected the Δsod1 and Δgrx5 mutants against the effects of t-butyl hydroperoxide and cumene hydroperoxide, Δsod1 mutants against oxytetracycline and Δgrx5 mutants against menadione and 2,2'-azobis-(2-amidinopropane). However, Tempol, Trolox and melatonin were much less effective, showing prooxidative effects and, at high concentrations, hampering the growth of the mutants in the absence of exogenous oxidants. These results point to a complication of cellular effects of antioxidants by their prooxidative effects and to the usefulness of cellular tests to evaluate the biological effectiveness of antioxidants.     

Effects of t-butyl hydroperoxide on NADPH, glutathione, and the respiratory burst of rat alveolar macrophages

The effects of t-butyl hydroperoxide on glutathione and NADPH and the respiratory burst (an NADPH-dependent function) in rat alveolar macrophages was investigated. Alveolar macrophages were exposed for 15 min to t-butyl hydroperoxide in the presence or absence of added glucose. Cells were then assayed for concanavalin A-stimulated O2 production or for NADPH, NADP, reduced glutathione, glutathione disulfide, glutathione released into the medium and glutathione mixed disulfides. Exposure of rat alveolar macrophages to 1 X 10(-5) M t-butyl hydroperoxide causes a loss of concanavalin A-stimulated superoxide production (the respiratory burst) that can be prevented or reversed by added glucose. Cells incubated without glucose had a higher oxidation state of the NADPH/NADP couple than cells incubated with glucose. With t-butyl hydroperoxide, NADP rose to almost 100% of the NADP + NADPH pool; however, addition of glucose prevented this alteration of the NADPH oxidation state. Cells exposed to 1 X 10(-5) M t-butyl hydroperoxide in the absence of glucose showed a significant increase in the percentage GSSG in the GSH + GSSG pool and increased glutathione mixed disulfides. These changes in glutathione distribution could also be prevented or reversed by glucose. With 1 X 10(-4) M t-butyl hydroperoxide, changes in glutathione oxidation were not prevented by glucose and cells were irreversibly damaged. We conclude that drastic alteration of the NADPH/NADP ratio does not itself reflect toxicity and that significant alteration of glutathione distribution can also be tolerated; however, when oxidative stress exceeds the ability of glucose to prevent alterations in oxidation state, irreversible damage to cell function and structure may occur.     

A novel selenocystine-beta-cyclodextrin conjugate that acts as a glutathione peroxidase mimic

A novel artificial glutathione peroxidase mimic consisting of a selenocystine-di-beta-cyclodextrin conjugate (selenium-bridged-6, 6'-amino-selenocystine-6,6'-deoxy-di-beta-cyclodextrin), in which selenocystine is bound to the primary side of beta-cyclodextrin through the two amino nitrogen groups of selenocystine, was synthesized. The glutathione peroxidase activities of the mimic-catalyzed reduction of H(2)O(2), tert-butylhydroperoxide, and cumene hydroperoxide by glutathione are 4.1, 2.11, and 5.82 units/micromol, respectively. The first activity was 82 and 4.2 times as much as that of selenocysteine and ebselen, respectively. Studies on the effect of substrate binding on the glutathione peroxidase activity suggest that it is important to consider substrate binding in designing glutathione peroxidase mimics. The detailed steady-state kinetic studies showed that the mimic-catalyzed reduction of H(2)O(2) by glutathione followed a ping-pong mechanism, which was similar to that of the native glutathione peroxidase.     

Rat lung glutathione release: response to oxidative stress and selenium deficiency

We performed experiments to characterize the glutathione-dependent metabolism occurring during tert-butyl hydroperoxide infusion in isolated perfused rat lungs and to examine the effect of selenium deficiency on this metabolism. Selenium deficiency resulted in decreased lung glutathione peroxidase activity but normal glutathione reductase activity and glutathione content. Infusion of the hydroperoxide into control lungs caused a proportional increase in tissue glutathione disulfide (GSSG) concentration and release of GSSG into the perfusate up to an infusion rate of 250 nmol of tert-butyl hydroperoxide X min-1 X 100 g body wt-1. Infusion rates greater than this resulted in continued rise of tissue GSSG concentrations but GSSG release into the perfusate plateaued. Infusion of tert-butyl hydroperoxide into selenium-deficient rat lungs resulted in much lower concentrations of tissue GSSG and GSSG release into the perfusate; however, release in the selenium-deficient rat lung was also found to be saturable at infusion rates of 450 nmol of tert-butyl hydroperoxide X min-1 X 100 g of body wt-1. Selenium deficiency in the rat decreases the rate of reduction of infused tert-butyl hydroperoxide by glutathione and may predispose the lung to free radical damage.     

Hydroperoxide reduction by thioredoxin-specific glutathione peroxidase isoenzymes of Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana contains eight glutathione peroxidase (GPX) homologs (AtGPX1-8). Four mature GPX isoenzymes with different subcellular distributions, AtGPX1, -2, -5 and -6, were overexpressed in Escherichia coli and characterized. Interestingly, these recombinant proteins were able to reduce H2O2, cumene hydroperoxide, phosphatidylcholine and linoleic acid hydroperoxides using thioredoxin but not glutathione or NADPH as an electron donor. The reduction activities of the recombinant proteins with H2O2 were 2-7 times higher than those with cumene hydroperoxide. Km values for thioredoxin and H2O2 were 2.2-4.0 and 14.0-25.4 microM, respectively. These finding suggest that GPX isoenzymes may function to detoxify H2O2 and organic hydroperoxides using thioredoxin in vivo and may also be involved in regulation of the cellular redox homeostasis by maintaining the thiol/disulfide or NADPH/NADP balance.     

Photooxidation of cell membranes in the presence of hematoporphyrin derivative: reactivity of phospholipid and cholesterol hydroperoxides with glutathione peroxidase

The susceptibility of photodynamically-generated lipid hydroperoxides to reductive inactivation by glutathione peroxidase (GPX) has been investigated, using hematoporphyrin derivative as a photosensitizing agent and the human erythrocyte ghost as a target membrane. Photoperoxidized ghosts were reactive in a glutathione peroxidase/reductase (GPX/GRD)-coupled assay only after phospholipid hydrolysis by phospholipase A2 (PLA2). However, enzymatically determined lipid hydroperoxide values were consistently approx. 40% lower than iodometrically determined values throughout the course of photooxidation. Moreover, when irradiated ghosts were analyzed iodometrically during PLA2/GSH/GPX treatment, a residual 30-40% of non-reactive lipid hydroperoxide was observed. The possibility that cholesterol product(s) account for the non-reactive lipid hydroperoxide was examined by tracking cholesterol hydroperoxides in [14C]cholesterol-labeled ghosts. The sum of cholesterol hydroperoxides and GPX/GRD-detectable lipid hydroperoxides was found to agree closely with iodometrically determined lipid hydroperoxide throughout the course of irradiation. Thin-layer chromatography of total lipid extracts indicated that cholesterol hydroperoxide was unaffected by PLA2/GSH/GPX treatment, whereas most of the phospholipid peroxides were completely hydrolyzed and the released fatty acid peroxides were reduced to alcohols. It appears, therefore, that the GPX-resistant lipid hydroperoxides in photooxidized ghosts were derived primarily from cholesterol. Ascorbate plus Fe3+ produced a burst of free-radical lipid peroxidation in photooxidized, PLA2-treated ghosts. As expected for fatty acid hydroperoxide inactivation, the lipid peroxidation was inhibited by GSH/GPX, but only partially so, suggesting that cholesterol hydroperoxide-derived radicals play a major role in the reaction.     

Responses of glutathione system and antioxidant enzymes to exhaustive exercise and hydroperoxide.

Glutathione (gamma-glutamylcysteinylglycine) is one of the major antioxidants in the body. The present study investigated the changes of glutathione status, oxidative injury, and antioxidant enzyme systems after an exhaustive bout of treadmill running and/or hydroperoxide injection in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Concentrations of total and reduced glutathione in deep vastus lateralis muscle were significantly increased (P less than 0.01) after exhaustive exercise with either hydroperoxide (t-butyl hydroperoxide) or saline injection, whereas hydroperoxide alone had no significant effect. Exhaustive exercise increased muscle glutathione disulfide content by 75 and 60% (P less than 0.05), respectively, in hydroperoxide and saline groups. Concentrations of glutathione-related amino acids glutamate, cysteine, and aspartate were significantly increased in the same muscle after exhaustion. Hepatic glutathione status was not affected by either hydroperoxide injection or exercise. Glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities were significantly elevated after exhaustive exercise with or without hydroperoxide injection in muscle but not in liver. Hydroperoxide and exhaustive exercise enhanced lipid peroxidation in muscle and liver, respectively. It is concluded that exhaustive exercise can impose a severe oxidative stress on skeletal muscle and that glutathione systems as well as antioxidant enzymes are important in coping with free radical-mediated muscle injury.     

Glutathione oxidation and activation of pentose phosphate cycle during hydroperoxide metabolism. A comparison of livers from fed and fasted rats

Perfusion of livers from fed and fasted rats with 0.07--0.1 mM t-butyl hydroperoxide for 15 min decreased the levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) by 1.5 mumol/g liver in both nutritional states. Glutathione disulfide (GSSG) was increased by 70 and 140 nmol/g liver and glutathione mixed disulfides enhanced by 45 and 150 nmol/g liver in livers from fed and fasted animals, respectively. The ratio of GSH/GSSG was decreased from 243 to 58 in fed animals, and from 122 to 8 in fasted animals. The increase of GSSG and the mixed disulfides was nearly parallel until an apparently critical low GSH content of 1.5 mumol/g was reached. Only in livers from fasted rats 14CO2-production from [1-14C]glucose was stimulated upon t-butyl hydroperoxide infusion at the employed rates. Flux of glucose through pentose phosphate cycle rose from 8 to 12% of glucose utilization via glycolysis, whereas in livers from fed animals this portion remained unchanged at 8% Dithio-erythritol reversed pentose phosphate cycle activity as well as GSSG and protein-bound glutathione contents to the original levels. In livers from fasted rats the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was increased by 34% by t-butyl hydroperoxide infusion.     

Response of the antioxidant defense system to tert-butyl hydroperoxide and hydrogen peroxide in a human hepatoma cell line (HepG2)

The aim of this work was to investigate the response of the antioxidant defense system to two oxidative stressors, hydrogen peroxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide, in HepG2 cells in culture. The parameters evaluated included enzyme activity and gene expression of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and activity of glutathione reductase. Besides, markers of the cell damage and oxidative stress evoked by the stressors such as cell viability, intracellular reactive oxygen species generation, malondialdehyde levels, and reduced glutathione concentration were evaluated. Both stressors, hydrogen peroxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide, enhanced cell damage and reactive oxygen species generation at doses above 50 microM. The concentration of reduced glutathione decreased, and levels of malondialdehyde and activity of the antioxidant enzymes consistently increased only when HepG2 cells were treated with tert-butyl hydroperoxide but not when hydrogen peroxide was used. A slight increase in the gene expression of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase and catalase with 500 microM tert-butyl hydroperoxide and of catalase with 200 microM hydrogen peroxide was observed. The response of the components of the antioxidant defense system evaluated in this study indicates that tert-butyl hydroperoxide evokes a consistent cellular stress in HepG2.     

Generation of free radicals from lipid hydroperoxides by Ni2+ in the presence of oligopeptides.

The generation of free radicals from lipid hydroperoxides by Ni2+ in the presence of several oligopeptides was investigated by electron spin resonance (ESR) utilizing 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO) as a spin trap. Incubation of Ni2+ with cumene hydroperoxide or t-butyl hydroperoxide did not generate any detectable free radical. In the presence of glycylglycylhistidine (GlyGlyHis), however, Ni2+ generated cumene peroxyl (ROO.) radical from cumene hydroperoxide, with the free radical generation reaching its saturation level within about 3 min. The reaction was first order with respect to both cumene hydroperoxide and Ni2+. Similar results were obtained using t-butyl hydroperoxide, but the yield of t-butyl peroxyl radical generation was about 7-fold lower. Other histidine-containing oligopeptides such as beta-alanyl-L-histidine (carnosine), gamma-aminobutyryl-L-histidine (homocarnosine), and beta-alanyl-3-methyl-L-histidine (anserine) caused the generation of both cumene alkyl (R.) and cumene alkoxyl (RO.) radicals in the reaction of Ni2+ with cumene hydroperoxide. Similar results were obtained using t-butyl hydroperoxide. Glutathione also caused generation of R. and RO. radicals in the reaction of Ni2+ with cumene hydroperoxide but the yield was approximately 25-fold greater than that produced by the histidine-containing peptides, except GlyGlyHis. The ratio of DMPO/R. and DMPO/RO. produced with glutathione and cumene hydroperoxide was approximately 3:1. Essentially the same results were obtained using t-butyl hydroperoxide except that the ratio of DMPO/R. to DMPO/RO. was approximately 1:1. The free radical generation from cumene hydroperoxide reached its saturation level almost instantaneously while in the case of t-butyl hydroperoxide, the saturation level was reached in about 3 min. In the presence of oxidized glutathione, the Ni2+/cumene hydroperoxide system caused DMPO/.OH generation from DMPO without forming free hydroxyl radical. Since glutathione, carnosine, homocarnosine, and anserine are considered to be cellular antioxidants, the present work suggests that instead of protecting against oxidative damage, these oligopeptides may facilitate the Ni(2+)-mediated free radical generation and thus may participate in the mechanism(s) of Ni2+ toxicity and carcinogenicity.     

Glutathione and superoxide dismutase redox system in the development of toxic-infectious shock caused by Yersinia pestis toxin

The changes in the glutathione-dependent and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymatic activity in the rat lungs and liver tissues have been studied after the administration of plague murine toxin (LD100). It has been found out the early toxic effect in 1h in the lungs: 35% SOD and glutathione peroxidase (tributyl hydroperoxide) (GP) decrease, 87% glutathione reductase (GR) increase along with two-hold ascent of ratio GR/Glutathione-S-transferase (GT), GR/GPs. The fundamental ratio GR/GT.GPs rises in 1h 3.7 times and then falls below standard rate (5h). This is the evidence of the lungs antioxidant system potential power exhaustion. It has been established that in the liver, 4 times SOD activity increases in 2h after the toxin injection, and 1.5 times GP (tributyL) hydroperoxide) activity ascends in 1h. The ratio increase (150% for SOD/GP-H2O2 in 2h, 114% for GR/GP (tributyl hydroperoxide) and 61% for GR/GT in 5h) indicates the stable unbalance of this system. The pathogenetic significance of detoxication system disturbances in the lungs and liver tissues under the murine toxin influence is discussed.