Effect of t-butylhydroperoxide on Na+/-dependent glutamate uptake in rabbit brain synaptosome

The effect of an organic peroxide, t-butylhydroperoxide (t-BHP), on glutamate uptake was studied in synaptosomes prepared from cerebral cortex. t-BHP inhibited the Na+/-dependent glutamate uptake with no change in the Na+/-independent uptake. This effect of t-BHP was not altered by addition of Ca2+ channel blockers (verapamil, diltiazem and nifedipine) or PLA2 inhibitors (dibucaine, butacaine and quinacrine). However, the effect was prevented by iron chelators (deferoxamine and phenanthroline) and phenolic antioxidants (N,N'-diphenyl-phenylenediamine, butylated hydroxyanisole, and butylated hydroxytoluene). At low concentrations (< 1.0 mM), t-BHP inhibited glutamate uptake without altering lipid peroxidation. Moreover, a large increase in lipid peroxidation by ascorbate/Fe2+ was not accompanied by an inhibition of glutamate uptake. The impairment of glutamate uptake by t-BHP was not intimately related to the change in Na+/-K+/-ATPase activity. These results suggest that inhibition of glutamate uptake by t-BHP is not totally mediated by peroxidation of membrane lipid, but is associated with direct interactions of glutamate transport proteins with t-BHP metabolites. The Ca2+ influx through Ca2+ channel or PLA2 activation may not be involved in the t-BHP inhibition of glutamate transport.

The effects of ascorbic acid on free radical injury in cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of ascorbic acid on oxidative injury of cultured porcine retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells induced by t-butylhydroperoxide. The porcine RPE cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium and the culture medium was replaced with one containing 0.01 mM to 5 mM ascorbic acid and/or 0.2 mM t-butylhydroperoxide. After 2 hours incubation, the test medium was replaced with the control medium. The number of cells was counted with a Coulter counter after a 2-day incubation period. The medium was pretreated with 900 U/ml and the previous procedure was repeated to eliminate the toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide induced by ascorbic acid. Not only t-butylhydroperoxide (p 0.05). The cytotoxicity of t-butylhydroperoxide decreased when 1 mM and 5 mM of ascorbic acid was added to the culture media with catalase pretreatment (p = 0.0277). These results indicate that ascorbic acid was toxic to RPE cells in our culture model but this cytotoxicity was not detected in the presence of catalase. With catalase pretreatment, ascorbic acid in relatively high concentration provided protection against oxidative injury of t-butylhydroperoxide.