Perfluorooctyl bromide (perflubron) attenuates oxidative injury to biological and nonbiological systems

To examine whether perfluorooctyl bromide (perflubron) is capable of protecting biological and nonbiological systems against oxidative damage through a mechanism independent of its known anti-inflammatory property.

A controlled, in vitro laboratory study.

Research laboratory of a health sciences university.

Rat pulmonary artery endothelial cell cultures (biological system) and linoleic acid in sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles (nonbiological system).

Rat pulmonary artery endothelial cells labeled with dichlorofluorescein diacetate and incubated with perflubron or culture media (control) were exposed to H2O2. H2O2-induced fluorescence of dichlorofluorescein diacetate was measured as an index of intracellular oxidative stress. In another experiment, linoleic acid in sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles was exposed to various concentrations of the azo initiator 2,2'-diazo-bis-(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (2, 4, 20, and 50 mM) in the presence or absence of perflubron. Malondialdehyde measurements were obtained as a marker of oxidative damage to linoleic acid.

Cell monolayers incubated with perflubron exhibited 66.6% attenuation in intracellular fluorescence compared with controls (p < .05). Linoleic acid in sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles incubated with perflubron and exposed to 2, 4, 20, or 50 mM of 2,2'-diazo-bis-(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride showed less evidence of lipid peroxidation as indicated by lower malondialdehyde measurements at 240 mins (10.6%, 16%, 41%, and 14.2%, respectively) compared with controls.

Perflubron attenuates oxidative damage to both biological and nonbiological systems. This newly recognized property of perflubron is independent of its anti-inflammatory properties.