Hydroxyl radical, lipid peroxidation initiation

However, subsequent studies demonstrated that the formation of hydroxyl radicals, even if it takes place during lipid peroxidation, is of no real importance. Beloqui and Cederbaum [11] have found that although the glutathione-glutathione peroxidase system suppressed hydroxyl radical generation during the oxidation of 4-methylmercapto-2-oxo-butyrate, it exhibited a much smaller effect on microsomal lipid peroxidation. Therefore, hydroxyl radical formation is apparently unimportant in this process. Other authors also pointed out at an unimportant role of hydroxyl radicals in the initiation of microsomal lipid peroxidation [12 14], For example, it has been shown that Fe(EDTA), a most efficient catalyst of hydroxyl radical formation by the Fenton reaction, inhibited microsomal and liposomal lipid peroxidation, while the weak catalysts of this reaction Fe(ADP) and Fe(ATP) enhanced it [13]. 

Hydroxyl radicals are the most reactive free-radical species known and have the ability to react with a wide number of cellular constituents including amino-acid residues, and purine and pyrimidine bases of DNA, as well as attacking membrane lipids to initiate a free-radical chain reaction known as lipid peroxidation. 

Thus, superoxide itself is obviously too inert to be a direct initiator of lipid peroxidation. However, it may be converted into some reactive species in superoxide-dependent oxidative processes. It has been suggested that superoxide can initiate lipid peroxidation by reducing ferric into ferrous iron, which is able to catalyze the formation of free hydroxyl radicals via the Fenton reaction. The possibility of hydroxyl-initiated lipid peroxidation was considered in earlier studies. For example, Lai and Piette [8] identified hydroxyl radicals in NADPH-dependent microsomal lipid peroxidation by EPR spectroscopy using the spin-trapping agents DMPO and phenyl-tcrt-butylnitrone. They proposed that hydroxyl radicals are generated by the Fenton reaction between ferrous ions and hydrogen peroxide formed by the dismutation of superoxide. Later on, the formation of hydroxyl radicals was shown in the oxidation of NADPH catalyzed by microsomal NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase [9,10]. 

The mechanism of iron-initiated superoxide-dependent lipid peroxidation has been extensively studied by Aust and his coworkers [15-18]. It was found that superoxide produced by xanthine oxidase initiated lipid peroxidation, but this reaction was not inhibited by hydroxyl radical scavengers and, therefore the formation of hydroxyl radicals was unimportant. Lipid peroxidation depended on the Fe3+/Fe2+ ratio, with 50 50 as the optimal value [19]. Superoxide supposedly stimulated peroxidation both by reducing ferric ions and oxidizing ferrous ions. As superoxide is able to release iron from ferritin, superoxide-promoted lipid peroxidation can probably proceed under in vivo conditions [16,20]. 

In 1977, Kellogg and Fridovich [28] showed that superoxide produced by the XO-acetaldehyde system initiated the oxidation of liposomes and hemolysis of erythrocytes. Lipid peroxidation was inhibited by SOD and catalase but not the hydroxyl radical scavenger mannitol. Gutteridge et al. [29] showed that the superoxide-generating system (aldehyde-XO) oxidized lipid micelles and decomposed deoxyribose. Superoxide and iron ions are apparently involved in the NADPH-dependent lipid peroxidation in human placental mitochondria [30], Ohyashiki and Nunomura [31] have found that the ferric ion-dependent lipid peroxidation of phospholipid liposomes was enhanced under acidic conditions (from pH 7.4 to 5.5). This reaction was inhibited by SOD, catalase, and hydroxyl radical scavengers. Ohyashiki and Nunomura suggested that superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radicals participate in the initiation of liposome oxidation. It has also been shown [32] that SOD inhibited the chain oxidation of methyl linoleate (but not methyl oleate) in phosphate buffer. 

It should be noted that Reaction (4) is not a one-stage process.) Both free radical N02 and highly reactive peroxynitrite are the initiators of lipid peroxidation although the elementary stages of initiation by these compounds are not fully understood. (Crow et al. [45] suggested that trans-ONOO is protonated into trans peroxynitrous acid, which is isomerized into the unstable cis form. The latter is easily decomposed to form hydroxyl radical.) Another possible mechanism of prooxidant activity of nitric oxide is the modification of unsaturated fatty acids and lipids through the formation of active nitrated lipid derivatives. 

Rodenas et al. [77] studied PMN-stimulated lipid peroxidation of arachidonic acid. As MDA formation was inhibited both with L-arginine (supposedly due to the formation of excess NO) and DTPA (an iron ion chelator), it was concluded that about 40% of peroxidation was initiated by hydroxyl radicals formed via the Fenton reaction and about 60% was mediated by peroxynitrite. However, it should be noted that the probability of hydroxyl radical-initiated lipid peroxidation is very small (see above). Phagocyte-mediated LDL oxidation is considered below. 

High antioxidative activity carvedilol has been shown in isolated rat heart mitochondria [297] and in the protection against myocardial injury in postischemic rat hearts [281]. Carvedilol also preserved tissue GSL content and diminished peroxynitrite-induced tissue injury in hypercholesterolemic rabbits [298]. Habon et al. [299] showed that carvedilol significantly decreased the ischemia-reperfusion-stimulated free radical formation and lipid peroxidation in rat hearts. Very small I50 values have been obtained for the metabolite of carvedilol SB 211475 in the iron-ascorbate-initiated lipid peroxidation of brain homogenate (0.28 pmol D1), mouse macrophage-stimulated LDL oxidation (0.043 pmol I 1), the hydroxyl-initiated lipid peroxidation of bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (0.15 pmol U1), the cell damage measured by LDL release (0.16 pmol l-1), and the promotion of cell survival (0.13 pmol l-1) [300]. SB 211475 also inhibited superoxide production by PMA-stimulated human neutrophils. 

Adults require 1-2 mg of copper per day, and eliminate excess copper in bile and feces. Most plasma copper is present in ceruloplasmin. In Wilson s disease, the diminished availability of ceruloplasmin interferes with the function of enzymes that rely on ceruloplasmin as a copper donor (e.g. cytochrome oxidase, tyrosinase and superoxide dismutase). In addition, loss of copper-binding capacity in the serum leads to copper deposition in liver, brain and other organs, resulting in tissue damage. The mechanisms of toxicity are not fully understood, but may involve the formation of hydroxyl radicals via the Fenton reaction, which, in turn initiates a cascade of cellular cytotoxic events, including mitochondrial dysfunction, lipid peroxidation, disruption of calcium ion homeostasis, and cell death. 

These pathways are thought to result in the production of superoxide (13) or in the release of superoxide directly from the particles themselves. Superoxide production leads to the formation of hydrogen peroxide, and metal ions such as Fe + react with hydrogen peroxide to produce the hydroxyl radical. It is well documented that the hydroxyl radical can damage DNA as well as lipids and proteins (18, 19). Some of the health effects of cigarette tar and smoke are attributed to free radicals that can initiate production of superoxide and hydroxyl radical (3, 10, 11, 20, 21). (Adapted from Dellinger et al., 2001)... 

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