Oxidative stress, progressive damage in the substantia nigra and plasma dopamine oxidation, in rats chronically exposed to ozone.

The purpose of our work was to determine the effects of oxidative stress on the neurodegeneration process in the substantia nigra, and to evaluate dopamine-oxidation metabolites in the plasma using a cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique. We have also studied the correlation between the increases in oxidized dopamine-species levels with the severity of lipid-peroxidation in the plasma. Sixty-four male Wistar rats were divided into four experimental groups and received air (Group I, control) or ozone (0.25 ppm) daily by inhalation for 4h for 15 (Group II), 30 (Group III), and 60 (Group IV) days. The brains were processed for immunohistochemical location of dopamine and p53 in the substantia nigra. Plasma collected from these animals was assayed for oxidized dopamine products using CV and lipid-peroxidation levels were measured. Our results indicate that chronic exposure to low O(3) doses causes that the number of dopaminergic neurons decreased, and p53-immunoreactive cells increases until 30 days; which was a function of the time of exposure to ozone. Oxidative stress produces a significant increase in the levels of the dopamine quinones (DAQs) that correlated well (r=0.962) with lipid peroxides in the plasma during the study period. These results suggest that DAQ could be a reliable, peripheral oxidative indicator of nigral dopaminergic damage in the brain.

Relationship between molecular structure and electron targets in the electroreduction of benzocarbazolediones and anilinenaphthoquinones. Experimental and theoretical study.

We report the synthesis and voltamperometric reduction of 5H-benzo[b]carbazole-6,11-dione (BCD) and its 2-R-substituted derivatives (R = -OMe, -Me, -COMe, -CF(3)). The electrochemical behavior of BCDs was compared to that of the 2-[(R-phenyl)amine]-1,4-naphthalenediones (PANs) previously studied. Like PANs, BCDs exhibit two reduction waves in acetonitrile. The first reduction step for the BCDs represents formation of the radical anion, and the half-wave potential (E(1/2)) values for this step are less negative than for that of the PANs. The second reduction wave, corresponding to the formation of dianion hydroquinone, has E(1/2) values that shift to more negative potentials. A good linear Hammett-Zuman (E(1/2) vs sigma(p)) relationship, similar to that for the PAN series, was also obtained for the BCDs. However, unlike the PANs, in the BCDs, the first reduction wave was more susceptible to the effect of the substituent groups than was the second wave, suggesting that the ordering of the two successive one-electron reductions in BCDs is opposite that in PANs. This is explained by the fact that the electron delocalizations in the two systems are different; in the case of BCDs there is an extra aromatic indole ring, which resists loss of its aromatic character. The electronic structures of BCD compounds were, therefore, investigated within the framework of the density functional theory, using the B3LYP hybrid functional with a double zeta split valence basis set. Our theoretical calculations show that the O(1).H-N hydrogen bond, analogous to that previously described for the PAN series, is not observed in the BCDs. Laplacians of the critical points (nabla(2)rho) and the natural charges for the C-O bonds indicate that the first reduction wave for the BCDs corresponds to the C(4)-O(2) carbonyl, while in the PAN series the first one-electron transfer occurred at the C(1)-O(1) carbonyl. Natural bond orbital analysis showed that, in all the BCDs, the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) is located at C(4), whereas for the PANs, the LUMO is found at C(1). The good correlation between the LUMO energy values and the E(1/2) potentials (wave I) established that the first one-electron addition takes place at the LUMO. Analysis of the molecular geometry confirmed that, in both series of compounds, the effect of the substituent groups is mainly on the C(4)-O(2) carbonyl. These results explain the fact that reduction of the C(4)-O(2) carbonyl (voltammetric wave II in the PANs and voltammetric wave I in the BCDs) is more susceptible to the effect of the substituent groups than is reduction of the C(1)-O(1) carbonyl (wave I in the PANs and wave II in the BCDs).

2,5-Diamino-p-benzoquinone Derivatives as Photosystem I Electron Acceptors: Synthesis and Electrochemical and Physicochemical Properties.

A series of 2,5-diamino-p-benzoquinone derivatives have been prepared and their physicochemical properties studied. The sensitivity of their photoreduction potential to 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea, 2,5-dibromo-3-methyl-6-isopropyl-p-benzoquinone, and KCN, as well as the photosystem I (PSI) activity, suggests that the reduction of 2,5-diamino-p-benzoquinone derivatives in the illuminated thylakoid is at the primary electron acceptor of PSI and it is reversible. The half-wave potentials of these compounds to their corresponding radical anions in an aprotic medium such as acetonitrile were found to be comparable with the midpoint potential values of the electron transport carriers at the reducing site of PSI. The strong reductant produced by PSI is really more accessible to the strong lipophilic electron acceptor. These lipophilic p-benzoquinone derivatives can reach the carriers inside the thylakoid membrane more easily than the ionic electron acceptor. The accepting electron properties of these compounds at PSI are similar to those of the bipyridinium herbicides.