Reduced antioxidant level and increased oxidative damage in intact liver lobes during ischaemia-reperfusion

AIM： To determine whether increased blood flow of the liver can cause oxidative stress and hepatocyte damage, and to elaborate methods suitable for measuring the antioxidant defence during hepatic surgery on rat model.METHODS： In nembutal narcosis, the left lateral and the medial lobes of the liver were clipped for 45 rain to make the total blood supply flow through the other lobes. Total antioxidant status, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dysmutase activity, as well as the concentrations of diene conjugates and free sulphydril groups, H-donating ability and reducing power of the liver samples were determined. Chemiluminescent intensity of the liver was also measured. Metal ions （Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Zn） and P and S concentrations of the liver were determined with an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer and Se content was measured by cathodic stripping voltammetry.RESULTS： Glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dysmutase activities of the liver decreased significantly in the hyperemia group compared to those observed in the sham operated group. The level of total antioxidant status was also significantly lower in the hyperemia group. H-donating ability, reducing power and free sulphydril group concentration showed the same tendency. A significant correlation （P〈0.05） was found between the changes in non-specific antioxidant activities. This pointed to simultaneous activity of the antioxidant defence system. Al, Cu, Mn, Zn, and S were lower in the hyperemia group than in the sham operated group when the levels of Ca, Fe, Mg, Se and P ions were higher during hyperemia.CONCLUSION： Oxidative stress is one of the main factors for the injury of intact liver lobes during ischaemia-reperfusion.

The Plastid-Localized NAD-Dependent Malate Dehydrogenase Is Crucial for Energy Homeostasis in Developing Arabidopsis thaliana Seeds

In the absence of photosynthesis, ATP is imported into chloroplasts and non-green plastids by ATP/ADP transporters or formed during glycolysis, the latter requiring continuous regeneration of NAD＋, supplied by the plastidial isoform of NAD-MDH. During screening for T-DNA insertion mutants in the plNAD-MDH gene of Arabidopsis, only heterozygous plants could be isolated and homozygous knockout mutants grew only after complementation. These heterozygous plants show higher transcript levels of an alternative NAD＋-regenerating enzyme, NADH-GOGAT, and, remarkably, improved growth when ammonium is the sole N-source. In situ hybridization and GUS-histochemical stain- ing revealed that plNAD-MDH was particularly abundant in male and female gametophytes. Knockout plNAD-MDH pollen exhibit impaired tube growth in vitro, which can be overcome by adding the substrates of NADH-GOGAT. In vivo, knockout pollen is able to fertilize the egg cell. Young siliques of selfed heterozygous plants contain both green and white seeds corresponding to wild-type/heterozygous （green） and homozygous knockout mutants （white） in a （1：2）：1 ratio. Embryos of the homozygous knockout seeds only reached the globular stage, did not green, and developed to tiny wrinkled seeds. Complementation with the gene under the native promoter rescued this defect, and all seeds developed as wild-type. This suggests that a blocked major physiological process in plNAD-MDH mutants stops both embryo and endosperm development, thus avoiding assimilate investment in compromised offspring.