Antioxidative effect of protoporphyrin on lipid peroxidation in tissue homogenates of intravenously administered rats

Effect of intravenous administration of protoporphyrin IX (PP) on lipid peroxidation was studied in rats. PP and/or PP-derived porphyrins were found to be mainly distributed in livers, spleen and lungs. Dose-dependent decreases in the Fe2+ and L-ascorbic acid-stimulated lipid peroxidation in homogenates of livers and dose-dependent increases in porphyrin concentration in livers were observed after the PP injection. In the experiments with a 20 mg/kg dose of PP, the peroxidation level in the liver homogenates reached its minimum level during the period of 3 to 24 h accompanying the high porphyrin concentration in livers after the administration. After 96 h, a relatively high porphyrin concentration was still retained, but decreases in the peroxidation levels had ceased. PP administration caused a dose-dependent decrease in the endogenous lipid peroxides in livers within 0.5 h and the low levels were maintained throughout the course of the 168-h study. These results clearly show that the administered PP is distributed in the liver and inhibits the lipid peroxidation in vivo.