Mechanism of cytotoxicity of paraquat. III. The effects of acute paraquat exposure on the electron transport system in rat mitochondria - PubMed (original) (raw)

Mechanism of cytotoxicity of paraquat. III. The effects of acute paraquat exposure on the electron transport system in rat mitochondria

T Fukushima et al. Exp Toxicol Pathol. 1994 Dec.

Abstract

The effects of acute paraquat exposure on mitochondrial function in rat lung were studied. The paraquat dose-response study and time-effective study were performed to prove our hypothesis, enzyme toxicity especially in electron transport system following lipid peroxidation of mitochondrial inner membrane. In dose-response study, lipid peroxidation was increased by high dose paraquat exposure (40 mg/kg body weight) in rat lung, but not by low dose exposure (10 mg/kg body weight). But paraquat inhibited NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) activities, especially NADH:ubiquinone reaction (NQR), even in low dose exposure. The lipid peroxide concentration did not correspond to the damage of complex I activity. In paraquat time-effective study, both lung and blood lipid peroxides increased after 6 h of paraquat exposure, decreased after 12 and 24 h and increased again after 48 h. After first peak of lipid peroxidation, NQR velocity decreased earlier than NADH:ferricyanide reaction (NFR) velocity. From these results, the cytotoxicity via mitochondrial dysfunction by acute paraquat exposure might be caused by complex I toxicity following lipid peroxidation of mitochondrial inner membrane.

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