Role of intracellular calcium in superoxide-induced hepatocyte injury

The mechanisms of hepatocyte injury caused by exogenous superoxide were investigated with the use of cultured rat hepatocytes. Cell viability, cytosolic free calcium concentration and cell surface structure were observed. Superoxide was produced by adding hypoxanthine and xanthine oxidase to the buffer. Cytosolic free calcium concentration was calculated by means of ratio imaging of fura 2 fluorescence with multiparameter digitized microscopy. In the buffer containing 1.27 mmol/L of calcium, lactate dehydrogenase release into the buffer began to increase at 1 hr and reached a plateau in 5 hr. Eighteen minutes after the addition of hypoxanthine and xanthine oxidase, small blebs were recognized on the cell surface with a scanning electron microscope; then a gradual rise in cytosolic free calcium concentration was observed. Thirty minutes after exposure to superoxide, large blebs were recognized with a phase-contrast microscope, when cytosolic free calcium concentration had risen to about 700 nmol/L. Depriving the buffer of calcium (< 10 mumol/L) significantly suppressed bleb formation and cell death, and cytosolic free calcium concentration was found to remain around the basal level (200 nmol/L). When ethylene glycol-bis (beta-amino-ethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid was added to the buffer, bleb formation and cell death were suppressed more completely, and cytosolic free calcium concentration decreased. Superoxide dismutase combined with catalase or nifedipine allowed the hepatocytes to maintain their viability and suppressed cytosolic free calcium concentration elevation. Calpeptin, a Ca(2+)-dependent neutral protease inhibitor, did not affect the rise in cytosolic free calcium concentration but prevented cell injury.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)