RESUMO
Liver microsomal cytochrome P4502E1-dependent p-nitrophenol (PNP) hydroxylation and expression of cytochrome P4502E1 were studied in rats subjected to gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCCH) or L-3,3,5-triiodothyronine (T3) administration as a possible mechanism contributing to superoxide radical (O2.-) generation. HCCH treatment (a single dose of 40 mg/kg body wt) produced a 43 per cent increase in the content of total cytochrome P450, whereas T3 (daily doses of 0.1 mg/kg body wt for two consecutive days) led to a 37 per cent decrease. NADPH-dependent O2.- generation was elevated by HCCH and T3, expressed as either per mg of protein or per nmol of cytochrome P450, with a 135 per cent enhancement in the O2.- production/superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity ratios being observed in both conditions. This was partly due to depression of SOD activity. Concomitantly, the molecular activity of NADPH-cytochrome p450 reductase was enhanced by 90 and 69 per cent by HCCH and T3, respectively. In these conditions, microsomal PNP hydroxylation showed increases of 58 and 45 per cent in HCCH- and T3-treated rats over control values, respectively, with a parallel 31 per cent (HCCH) and 41 per cent (T3) enhancement in the content of cytochrome P4502E1 assessed by western immunoblotting. We conclude that HCCH and T3 enhance the expression and activity of cytochrome P4502E1 and that of NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase in rat liver, regardless of the changes in total cytochrome P450 content, representing major contributory mechanisms to microsomal NADPH-dependent O2.- generation.