The Effect of Allopurinol and Deferoxamine on Postischemic Lipid Peroxidation

ABSTRACT

It has been hypothesized that ischemia, followed by reperfusion, facilitates peroxidative free radical chain process in brain. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of allopurinol and deferoxamine on cerebral lipid peroxidation, estimated by a thiobarbituric acid test, following transient bilateral forebrain ischemia in the rat model of four vessel occlusion. Sprague-Dawley rats fed ad libitum were subjected to transient but severe forebrain ischemia by permanently occluding the vertebral arteries and 48 hours later temporarily occluding the common carotid arteries for 20 minutes. Carotid artery blood flow was restored and rats were decapitated after 48 hours. We assessed the lipid peroxidation capacity of cerebral homogenates obtained from hippocampus, basal ganglia, cortex and thalamus. The homogenates were subjected to 30 minutes of aerobic incubation. The production of lipid peroxides were decreased in all sampled area in the treated groups compared with the control group. Allopurinol and deferoxamine-treated groups showed decreased lipid peroxide levels in all the sampled area, but especially more in the hippocampus(p=0.02), (p0.05). The results suggest that allopurionl and deferoxamine play a role in protecting ischemic cellular damages by scavenging free radicals and subsequently lipid peroxides formed by oxygen supply through blood reperfusion.