Lipid Peroxidation in Liver and Plasma of Rat Induced by Iron-Deficient Diet and/or Ethanol

This investigation was undertaken to elucidate the effects of iron-deficiency and/or ethanol ingestion on lipid peroxidation of rat liver and plasma.Forty Wistar female rats (about 40g b. w.) were fed a normal diet (Fe: 40ppm) or an iron-deficient diet (Fe: 5ppm) for 8 weeks. Half of them in each group were given 10% ethanol as drinking water for the last 4 weeks. The rats were killed, the liver was removed, and the homogenate was prepared for determination of the contents of thiobarbituric acid reacting substance (TBA-V), glutathione (GSH), ubiquinone (UQ), ubiquinol (UQH2), α-tocopherol (α-Toc) and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD).In the rats fed iron-deficient diet, lipid peroxidation as reflected by TBA-V was significantly lower in liver homogenate and plasma, and the contents of reduced and oxidized UQ (UQ9, UQH29) in liver homogenate were higher than those in the animals fed the normal diet. In the normal rats given ethanol, TBA-V did not differ significantly from that in the animals fed normal diet alone, although the content of GSH was decreased and the content of α-Toc. was increased in liver homogenate of the ethanol-treated group. In the iron-deficient animals given ethanol, there was an increase of UQH29 content in liver, but no other significant change compared with animals fed the iron-deficient diet.These data might suggest that the iron-deficient condition protects the animals against free radical attack caused by ethanol ingestion.