Elevation of thiobarbituric acid values in the rat liver intoxicated by T-2 toxin

In the present study we first demonstrated that T-2 toxin markedly stimulated lipid peroxidation specifically in the liver of rats. The amount of lipid peroxides in the liver, estimated by the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method, increased dose dependently, being proportional to the extent of its acute toxicity measured by various parameters in rats fed a commercial diet. Further, to elucidate the mechanism of lipid peroxidation and its role in hepatic injury caused by T-2 toxin, time-course studies on the correlation between lipid peroxide content and some biological and histopathological data were undertaken in rats given 4 mg of the toxin/kg perorally. The TBA reactive substances in the liver began to increase after 6 hr. However, much earlier than this there were some other alterations, which included decreases in the amount of cytochrome P-450 in the liver, of GPT (thereafter an increase) and phospholipids in the plasma, and of basophilic masses in the hepatocytes (arrayed as a rough endoplasmic reticulum in the electron micrograph). The vitamin E-deficient study showed that vitamin E markedly inhibited the stimulative effect of T-2 toxin on lipid peroxidation, but not diminish any other measured parameters of the injury. The toxin-induced stimulation of lipid peroxidation does not appear to be caused by activation of microsomal NADPH-cytochrome c reductase nor by a decrease in the level of cytosolic glutathione peroxidase. These results suggest that T-2 toxin might induce some alteration of the membrane structure and consequently might stimulate lipid peroxidation in situ.