Mitochondrial phospholipid bilayer structure is ruined after liver oxidative injury in vivo

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether, after oxidative injury in vivo, liver mitochondrial phospholipids suffered from structural defects similar to those we have previously observed after either chemical oxidation or respiration state IV incubation of isolated mitochondria in vitro. Oxidative injury of the liver was simulated by endogastric administration of CCl4 to rats in variable amounts for different times, under various conditions. Measurements of the phospholipid bilayer packing order were carried out by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometry of oriented planar samples of phospholipids extracted from liver mitochondria, spin labeled with 5-doxylstearoyl-lecithin. Disordering of the bilayer was revealed by the anisotropy loss of EPR spectra and reached a maximum value 4.5 h after CCl4 administration, vanishing thereafter. The observed disorder also increased with the amount of CCl4 administered, showing distinct dose-dependence, while administration of resveratrol soon after carbon tetrachloride decreased bilayer disordering by 50%. On the contrary, the order parameter S of spin labeled lecithin in isolated mitochondrial membranes from intoxicated rats revealed no change in membrane fluidity after oxidative stress. It is concluded that the phospholipid damage leading to disturbed bilayer geometry after oxidative attack already observed in model membranes and in isolated mitochondria in vitro also occurs in a simulated pathological state in vivo, indicating its possible occurrence also in real oxidative stress-linked pathologies as a contribution to the onset/sustaining of related diseases.