18
Views
24
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Article

Alcohol-Induced Hepatotoxicity: A Role for Oxygen Free Radicals

&
Pages 19-26 | Received 21 Jul 1986, Published online: 07 Jul 2009
 

Abstract

Perfusion of isolated rat livers with ethanol at a concentration of 2g/l (%o) resulted in a release of glutamate-pyruvate-transaminase (GPT) and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) into the perfusate as markers of toxicity. Inhibition of alcohol dehydrogenase by 4-methylpyrazole or of aldehyde dehydrogenase by cyanamide totally abolished ethanol hepatotoxicity despite of a severalfold increase in acetaldehyde concentration in the perfusate. Addition of superoxide dismutase or catalase clearly suppressed the ethanol-induced release of GPT and SDH, suggesting that 02∼ and H20, are involved in this process. Also. chelation of iron ions by means of desferrioxamine displayed a clear inhibitory action, suggesting the involvement of an iron-catalyzed Haber-WeiB-reaction leading to the formation of OH radicals in the hepatotoxic response to ethanol. Our data suggest that during the metabolism of acetaldehyde primary reactive oxygen species ('02∼, H202) are produced which may interact to yield hydroxyl or OH-like radicals, which possibly represent the hepatotoxic principle of ethanol.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.