Effects of oxidative stress caused by hyperoxia and diquat. A study in isolated hepatocytes

The effects of oxidative stress caused by hyperoxia or administration of the redox active compound diquat were studied in isolated hepatocytes, and the relative contribution of lipid peroxidation, glutathione (GSH) depletion, and NADPH oxidation to the cytotoxicity of active oxygen species was investigated. The redox cycling of diquat occurred primarily in the microsomal fraction since diquat was found not to penetrate into the mitochondria. Depletion of intracellular GSH by pretreatment of the animals with diethyl maleate promoted lipid peroxidation and sensitized the cells to oxidative stress. Diquat toxicity was also greatly enhanced when glutathione reductase was inhibited by pretreatment of the cells with 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea. Despite extensive lipid peroxidation, loss of cell viability was not observed, with either hyperoxia or diquat, until the GSH level had fallen below approximately 6 nmol/10(6) cells. The iron chelator desferrioxamine provided complete protection against both diquat-induced lipid peroxidation and loss of cell viability. In contrast, the antioxidant alpha-tocopherol inhibited lipid peroxidation but provided only partial protection from toxicity. The hydroxyl radical scavenger alpha-keto-gamma-methiol butyric acid, finally, also provided partial protection against diquat toxicity but had no effect on lipid peroxidation. The results indicate that there is a critical GSH level above which cell death due to oxidative stress is not observed. As long as the glutathione peroxidase - glutathione reductase system is unaffected, even relatively low amounts of GSH can protect the cells by supporting glutathione peroxidase-mediated metabolism of H2O2 and lipid hydroperoxides.