Hepatocyte-specific distribution of catalase and its inhibitory effect on hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice

To explore the possibility of using catalase for the treatment of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated injuries, the pharmacokinetics of bovine liver catalase (CAT) labeled with In-111 was investigated in mice. At a dose of 0.1 mg/kg, more than 70% of In-111-CAT was recovered in the liver within 10 min after intravenous injection. In addition, In-111-CAT was predominantly recovered from the parenchymal cells (PC) in the liver. Increasing the dose retarded the hepatic uptake of In-111-CAT, suggesting saturation of the uptake process. This cell-specific uptake could not be inhibited by coadministration of various compounds which are known to be taken up by Liver PC, indicating that the uptake mechanism of CAT by PC is very specific to this compound. The preventive effect of CAT on a hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury was examined in mice by measuring the GOT and GPT levels in plasma. A bolus injection of CAT at 5 min prior to the reperfusion attenuated the increase in the levels of these indicators in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that catalase can be used for various hepatic injuries caused by ROS.