The generation of superoxide radicals by complex III in heart mitochondria and the antioxidant effect of dinitrosyl iron complexes at different partial pressures of oxygen

Abstract

The EPR spin-trapping technique and EPR-oximetry were used to study generation of superoxide radicals in heart mitochondria isolated from Wistar rats under conditions of variable oxygen concentration. Lithium phthalocyanine and TEMPONE-15N-D16 were chosen to determine oxygen content in a gas-permeable capillary tube containing mitochondria. TIRON was used as a spin trap. We investigated the influence of different oxygen concentrations in incubation mixture and demonstrated that heart mitochondria can generate superoxide in complex III at different partial pressure of oxygen as well as under the conditions of deep hypoxia (< 5% O2). Dinitrosyl iron complexes with glutathione (the pharmaceutical drug "Oxacom") exerted an antioxidant effect, regardless of the value of the partial pressure of oxygen, but the magnitude and kinetic characteristics of the effect depended on the concentration of the drug.