Radical chemistry of alloxan-dialuric acid: role of the superoxide radical.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
1. The effects of vanadium ions on the .OH radical production in the presence of and in the absence of dialuric acid were studied. 2. Dialuric acid enhanced deoxyribose degradation. 3. Vanadium ions and vanadium/EDTA complexes decreased the degradation of deoxyribose in the presence and in the absence of dialuric acid. 4. The question as to whether or not free .OH radicals are formed via reaction of vanadium ions with H2O2 in the presence of dialuric acid is discussed. 5. The results are interpreted with a view to the vanadium ability to decrease the toxic effects of dialuric acid.
Much evidence has been reported that the diabetogenic action of alloxan is caused by the formation of cytotoxic free radicals during the autoxidation of dialuric acid, a reduction product of alloan, to alloxan. The mechanism by which alloxan is reduced in vivo to dialuric acid, however, is unknown. The non-enzymatic reaction of alloxan with NAD(P)H was studied as a possible candidate for the reduction of alloxan. The reaction was carried out at 37 degrees in 50 mM phosphate buffer (mostly at pH 7.0) and was followed by measuring the decrease in absorbance at 340 nm. NADH and NADPH were found to be stoichiometrically oxidized by alloxan to NAD and NADP respectively. When the alloxan concentration (1.0 mM) was kept constant and the concentration of NAD(P)H (0.05 to 0.2 mM) was varied, the rate of decrease in the relative concentration of NAD(P)H was almost constant, suggesting that the autoxidation of dialuric acid by O2 was rapid enough to neglect its presence in the medium. The reaction between alloxan and NAD(P)H was accelerated by decreasing the pH. Both the rate of decrease in NAD(P)H concentration and the rate of O2 consumption resulting from autoxidation of the dialuric acid formed by reduction of alloxan were not affected by the presence of 20 mM D-glucose. Ethylene formation by the reaction of methional with . OH, one of the autoxidation products of dialuric acid, was clearly reduced by the presence of alpha- or beta-D-glucose (20 mM), but there was no significant difference between the effects of the two anomers. These results with D-glucose ruled out the possibility that the protection of beta-cells by D-glucose against the diabetogenicity of alloxan can be explained either by its inhibitory action on dialuric acid formation or by its scavenging effect on . OH.
OsO4 selectively forms thymine glycol lesions in DNA. In the past, OsO4-treated DNA has been used as a substrate in studies of DNA repair utilizing base-excision repair enzymes such as DNA glycosylases. There is, however, no information available on the chemical identity of other OsO4-induced base lesions in DNA. A complete knowledge of such DNA lesions may be of importance for repair studies. Using a methodology developed recently for characterization of oxidative base damage in DNA, we provide evidence for the formation of cytosine glycol and 5,6-dihydroxycytosine moieties, in addition to thymine glycol, in DNA on treatment with OsO4. For this purpose, samples of OsO4-treated DNA were hydrolysed with formic acid, then trimethylsilylated and analysed by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In addition to thymine glycol, 5-hydroxyuracil (isobarbituric acid), 5-hydroxycytosine and 5,6-dihydroxyuracil (isodialuric acid or dialuric acid) were identified in OsO4-treated DNA. It is suggested that 5-hydroxyuracil was formed by formic acid-induced deamination and dehydration of cytosine glycol, which was the actual oxidation product of the cytosine moiety in DNA. 5-Hydroxycytosine obviously resulted from dehydration of cytosine glycol, and 5,6-dihydroxyuracil from deamination of 5,6-dihydroxycytosine. This scheme was supported by the presence of 5-hydroxyuracil, uracil glycol and 5,6-dihydroxyuracil in OsO4-treated cytosine. Treatment of OsO4-treated cytosine with formic acid caused the complete conversion of uracil glycol into 5-hydroxyuracil. The implications of these findings relative to studies of DNA repair are discussed.
Plasma alpha-tocopherol (alpha-T) concentrations, erythrocyte osmotic fragility and detergent sensitivity were measured at 8 week intervals in two 1-year-old male beagle dogs fed a vitamin E-deficient diet (< 0.08 mg per kg alpha-T) and in two control beagles fed the same diet supplemented with vitamin E (> 90 mg per kg alpha-T). Beginning at 24 weeks, dialuric acid haemolysis and spontaneous haemolysis were evaluated also. In the vitamin E-deficient dogs, plasma alpha-T concentrations declined progressively from baseline values of 20.5 and 31.3 micrograms per ml to 0.11 and 0.07 micrograms per ml, respectively, by 90 weeks. The supplemented dogs maintained alpha-T concentrations between 18.3 and 38.4 micrograms per ml. Both dialuric acid haemolysis (R = -0.89) and spontaneous haemolysis (R = -0.91) increased with declining plasma alpha-T concentration. In the dialuric acid haemolysis assay, 50 per cent haemolysis occurred when plasma alpha-T declined to 1.7 micrograms per ml, compared with spontaneous haemolysis in which 50 per cent haemolysis occurred when plasma alpha-T declined to 0.5 micrograms per ml. Osmotic fragility and detergent sensitivity remained unchanged in the vitamin E-deficient dogs throughout the study. Of the four tests, dialuric acid haemolysis was the most sensitive in-vitro assay for vitamin E deficiency in adult dogs.
The beta-cell toxin alloxan is reduced within cells to dialuric acid, which may then decompose to release damaging reactive oxygen species. We tested whether such redox cycling of alloxan occurs in the human erythrocyte, a cell with stronger antioxidant defenses than beta-cells. Erythrocytes incubated with increasing concentrations of alloxan progressively accumulated dialuric acid, as measured directly by HPLC with electrochemical detection. At concentrations up to 2 mM, alloxan decreased cellular GSH slightly, but did not affect erythrocyte contents of ascorbate or alpha-tocopherol. Intracellular H2O2 generation, measured as inhibition of endogenous catalase activity in the presence of 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (aminotriazole), was decreased by alloxan. Despite its failure to induce significant oxidant stress in erythrocytes, 2 mM of alloxan doubled the activity of the hexose monophosphate pathway (HMP). This likely reflected consumption of reducing equivalents during reduction of alloxan to dialuric acid. Alloxan pretreatment enhanced the ability of erythrocytes to reduce extracellular ferricyanide while protecting alpha-tocopherol in the cell membrane from oxidation by ferricyanide. Ninhydrin, a hydrophobic derivative of alloxan, showed similar effects, but caused progressive GSH depletion and cell lysis at concentrations above 50 microM. The ability of alloxan to enhance ferricyanide reduction and to spare alpha-tocopherol suggests that dialuric acid or other reducing species within the cells can protect or recycle alpha-tocopherol and donate electrons to a transmembrane transfer process. This behavior resembles that observed for the dehydroascorbate (DHA)/ascorbate pair, and leads to the unexpected conclusion that alloxan increases the reducing capacity of the erythrocyte.
The mechanism of the reaction between alloxan and GSH has been studied in the presence and absence of superoxide dismutase. Excess GSH reduced alloxan to dialuric acid, which underwent subsequent autoxidation, thus establishing a redox cycle in which O2 and GSH in excess of the alloxan concentration were consumed. The major reaction products were H2O2 and GSSG. At each cycle, a small fraction of the alloxan reacted with GSH to form a 305 nm-absorbing adduct that gradually accumulated. In the presence of SOD, alloxan was reduced by GSH, but increasing concentrations of GSH progressively inhibited redox cycling as shown by decreased rates of O2 uptake and GSH oxidation. With GSH: alloxan or dialuric acid molar ratios of greater than 8-10:1, redox cycling was almost completely suppressed. A mechanism based on known reactions of GSH and dialuric acid is proposed. Alloxan and GSH, with an iron chelate present as catalyst, caused the hydroxylation of salicylate, an indicator of hydroxyl radical production. Hydroxylation was inhibited by catalase but not by superoxide dismutase, and it is attributed to the Fenton reaction in which the ferric catalyst is reduced by dialuric acid.
1. The in vitro effects of alloxan, dialuric acid and vanadium ions, alone or in combination, on lipid peroxidation and on antioxidant enzyme activity in rat liver and kidney were studied. 2. Unlike alloxan, alloxan-glutathione (GSH) and dialuric acid increased lipid peroxidation, which could be explained by the decreased activity of catalase and GSH peroxidase during incubation. 3. Vanadium(IV) ions increased the amount of thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances, but neither vanadium(IV) nor vanadium(V) changed the enzyme activity. 4. The combination of vanadium ions and alloxan-GSH or dialuric acid had no additive effect on lipid peroxidation. Vanadium ions decreased the dialuric acid-induced inhibition of catalase activity. 5. The present results suggest the therapeutic value of vanadium as an antidiabetic agent.
Alloxan, alloxan-zinc-chelate, sodium salt of dialuric acid, and colchicine significantly raised the blood sugar level under the previously mentioned experimental conditions 28 h after the application. The typical three-phase blood sugar curve development after alloxan (initial hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, permanent hyperglycemia) was only approximately reached by dialuric acid which initiated, however, instead of the initial hyperglycemia a more pronounced hypoglycemic phase within the first 6 h. Alloxan-zinc-chelate protractedly and significantly made the blood sugar's increase up to the 7th d post injectionem, without being able to maintain a permanent hyperglycemia with half-normal dosage in comparison with alloxan. Non-diabetogenic alloxan doses (19 mg/kg i. v.) and the appropriate alloxan-zinc-chelate dosage (35 mg/kg) led to a significant increase of the blood sugar only in the chelate group with the long-term test up to 10 d, suggesting an increased and prolonged effect of the metal-chelates by stabilization of alloxan. The tested substances differently acted on the mitotic frequency of B-cells. The mitosis did not increase in the alloxan-zinc- and dialuric acid treated animals and was similar to normal animals far below the fractions of 1/10(6). A 4- and 5-fold increase of the mitotic frequency in the colchicine or alloxan treated animals as well as an accumulation of delayed metaphases suggest an impeded transition to the anaphase and include alloxan among the mitotic poisons.
The peroxidation of membrane phospholipids induced in vitro by ascorbic acid or by dialuric acid (hydroxybarbituric acid) does not occur in the absence of traces of metal ions. Peroxidation induced by adding iron salts to phospholipids can either be promoted or inhibited by the chelators EDTA, diethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid and bathophenanthrolinesulphonate, depending on the ratio [chelator]/[iron salt]. The iron chelator desferrioxamine inhibits peroxidation at all concentrations tested, and it also inhibits the iron-catalysed formation of hydroxyl radicals (OH.) from superoxide (O2-.). Since desferrioxamine is approved for clinical use, it might prove a valuable tool in the treatment of inflammation, poisoning by autoxidizable molecules and radiation damage.
Mepacrine at 50 microM completely protected vitamin E-deficient rat erythrocytes from peroxidative hemolysis induced by dialuric acid or reduced glutathione under the standard experimental conditions. Malondialdehyde formation, which precedes the hemolysis, was also inhibited by mepacrine. These effects of mepacrine were observed when it was added after incubating the cells with dialuric acid before the malondialdehyde formation reached 50% of its maximal value. Mepacrine also inhibited NADPH-dependent lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomes. The degree of inhibition by mepacrine of lipid peroxidation and hemolysis was dependent on the amount of red blood cells or microsomes in the reaction mixture.
Alloxan is known to induce diabetes in experimental animals through destruction of insulin-producing 3-cells of pancreas. The mechanism of DNA damage induced by alloxan was investigated using 32P-labeled human DNA fragments. Cu(II)-dependent DNA damage increased with the concentration of alloxan and NADH. Alloxan induced DNA cleavage frequently at thymine and cytosine residues in the presence of NADH and Cu(II). Catalase and bathocuproine, a Cu(I)-specific chelator, almost completely inhibited DNA damage, suggesting the involvement of H2O2 and Cu(I). Alloxan induced Cu(II)-dependent production of 8-oxodG in calf thymus DNA in the presence of NADH. UV-visible and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopic studies showed that superoxide anion radical and alloxan radical were generated by the reduction of alloxan by NADH, and also by the autoxidation of dialuric acid, the reduced form of alloxan. These results suggest that the copper-oxygen complex derived from the reaction of H2O2 with Cu(I) participates in Cu(II)-dependent DNA damage by alloxan plus NADH and dialuric acid. The mechanism of DNA damage is discussed in relation to diabetogenic action of alloxan.
Release of iron from ferritin requires reduction of ferric to ferrous iron. The iron can participate in the diabetogenic action of alloxan. We investigated the ability of ascorbate to catalyze the release of iron from ferritin in the presence of alloxan. Incubation of ferritin with ascorbate alone elicited iron release (33 nmol/10 min) and the generation of ascorbate free radical, suggesting a direct role for ascorbate in iron reduction. Iron release by ascorbate significantly increased in the presence of alloxan, but alloxan alone was unable to release measurable amounts of iron from ferritin. Superoxide dismutase significantly inhibited ascorbate-mediated iron release in the presence of alloxan, whereas catalase did not. The amount of alloxan radical (A.(-)) generated in reaction systems containing both ascorbate and alloxan decreased significantly upon addition of ferritin, suggesting that A.(-) is directly involved in iron reduction. Although release of iron from ferritin and generation of A.(-) were also observed in reactions containing GSH and alloxan, the amount of iron released in these reactions was not totally dependent on the amount of A.(-) present, suggesting that other reductants in addition to A.(-) (such as dialuric acid) may be involved in iron release mediated by GSH and alloxan. These results suggest that A.(-) is the main reductant involved in ascorbate-mediated iron release from ferritin in the presence of alloxan and that both dialuric acid and A.(-) contribute to GSH/alloxan-mediated iron release.
The effect of dietary vitamin C on vitamin E status and function was studied with weanling male Hartley guinea pigs. Thirty guinea pigs fed a basal diet free of vitamins E and C were divided into two groups; only one group received 2 mg/100 g body weight/day of vitamin C. Each group was further divided into three subgroups and received 0, 0.2, and 0.4 IU/100 g body weight/day of vitamin E. After 5 weeks the animals were killed. Degree of erythrocyte hemolysis induced by dialuric acid, level of plasma vitamin E and extent of liver lipid peroxidation were determined. Liver mitochondria were isolated and in vitro oxygen uptake was measured. The rate of swelling of mitochondria in two media was also determined. The results showed that the adequate dietary vitamin C supplementation did not affect the extent of erythrocyte hemolysis induced by dialuric acid, but increased the plasma vitamin E level and lowered liver lipid peroxidation. It also maintained the normal respiration and swelling rates of liver mitochondria when vitamin E was inadequate.
Alloxan inhibited aconitase with a half maximal inhibitory concentration of 0.5 mM in sonically disrupted and 2.3 mM in intact isolated liver mitochondria. For dialuric acid the half maximal inhibitory concentrations were 1.1 mM and 2.5 mM, respectively. Ninhydrin and N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) also inhibited aconitase with half maximal inhibitory concentrations in the submillimolar range and t-butylhydroperoxide (BuOOH) in the millimolar range, which, however, were not different for disrupted and intact mitochondria. Only the aconitase substrate citrate, but not glucose provided protection of the enzyme against inhibition. In intact liver cells the half maximal inhibitory concentration for alloxan was 6.8 mM. Again, dialuric acid and BuOOH were less potent inhibitors while ninhydrin and NEM were more potent inhibitors of aconitase in intact liver cells. In intact liver cells, glucose and 3-O-methylglucose, but not mannoheptulose and citrate provided protection against alloxan inhibition. The results show that aconitase is not an enzyme particularly sensitive towards alloxan inhibition and thus apparently not a primary site for mediation of alloxan toxicity as it is the glucokinase. This makes a primary site of alloxan action in the mitochondria extremely unlikely. On the other hand the results demonstrate that both the intact mitochondrial and plasma membrane as uptake barriers provide protection against alloxan toxicity. In addition the results clearly show, that 3-O-methylglucose provides protection against alloxan action only at the level of the plasma membrane through inhibition of alloxan uptake into the cell, while the site of protection of mannoheptulose is only the sugar binding site of the glucokinase. In contrast, glucose is shown here to be the only sugar with a dual protective effect both through inhibition of alloxan uptake through the plasma membrane like 3-O-methylglucose and through protection of the glucokinase sugar binding site against alloxan inhibition of the enzyme like mannoheptulose. In the light of these results the unique protective potency of glucose as compared to that of other sugars is not surprising.
Alloxan reacts with certain sulfhydryl groups either by chemical modification or reduction to dialuric acid. The effects of the drug on NADPH-thioredoxin oxidoreductase, EC 1.6.4.5] and thioredoxin-(SH)2, a ubiquitous thiol-dependent disulfide reductase system, are described. Alloxan was a direct substrate for a nearly homogenous preparation of calf thymus NADPH-thioredoxin reductase with an apparent Km of 330 microM and a Kcat of 1000 min-1 at pH 7.0 and 25 degrees C. Alloxan was not a substrate for the corresponding Escherichia coli NADPH-thioredoxin reductase. However, E. coli and calf thymus thioredoxin-(SH)2 both efficiently reduced alloxan. Thus, alloxan showed an apparent Km of 70 microM in the presence of 3.4 microM E. coli thioredoxin, 0.2 microM thioredoxin reductase, and 0.4 mM NADPH. The insulin disulfide reductase activity of the complete calf thymus thioredoxin system was inhibited by alloxan, as predicted from the reaction of the drug with both thioredoxin-(SH)2 and thioredoxin reductase. The toxic action of alloxan on animal cells, particularly the beta cells of pancreas, may be caused by rapid oxidation of cellular NADPH and generation of cytotoxic dialuric acid catalyzed by the thioredoxin system.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.