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Published on: February 21, 2011
Oxidative response of rat lung tissue after crown ethers exposure and the effects of alpha-tocopherol treatment
Massod Mashhadi Akbar Boojar1, Faranak Goodarzi
1Department of Biology, University of Tarbiat Moalem, No. 49 Dr. Mofateh Avenue, Tehran, P.O. Box 15614, Iran. boojar@saba.tmu.ac.ir
Background:
Ionophoric properties of crown ethers enable them ideally to transport across membranes and interfere with different living systems. We studied cytotoxicity effects of 18-crown-6 and 15-crown-5 and the role of oxidative stress in rat lung tissue culture.
Methods:
We assayed the effects of these crown ethers in a range of doses (0.1 to 2 mmol/l) on lipids and proteins oxidative damages end products; malondialdehyde (MDA) and dityrosine and on the activity of antioxidant enzymes; superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), catalase (CAT), in rat lung tissue culture by spectrometry and HPLC.
Results:
Both compounds significantly increased the levels of MDA, dityrosine and enzyme activities at doses >0.5 mmol/l after 48-h incubation in the lung tissue, representing promotion of ROS generation with respect to control. These effects were more considerable for 18-crown-6 than 15-crown-5. Treatment of lung tissue with 30 microm of alpha-tocopherol in addition to 2 mmol/l of crown ethers showed significant decrease on the levels of enzyme activities, MDA and dityrosine.
Conclusion:
We showed the oxidative radicals forming ability of crown ethers as documented in their toxicity effects through lipid and proteins oxidation damages.

