Acute adriamycin treatment of rats does not increase ethane expiration

Adriamycin (20 and 45 mg/kg) was injected i.p. to rats and the amount of ethane expired, which indicates lipid peroxidation in vivo, was determined. None of the doses applied resulted in significant increased ethane expiration of the animals as measured immediately, on the second or on the third day after treatment. Only with 45 mg adriamycin/kg a small increase of ethane formation could be observed on the second day after treatment. But some rats died during the experimental period. The treatment with 65 mg adriamycin/kg i.p. was lethal within 24 h, although an increased ethane production was not measurable. Our data suggest that lipid peroxidation is probably not occurring during metabolism of adriamycin in the rat, and that it is not responsible for the acute toxicity observed after adriamycin treatment.