ROLE OF METALLOTHIONEIN IN ZINC(II) AND CHROMIUM(III) MEDIATED TOLERANCE TO CARBON-TETRACHLORIDE HEPATOTOXICITY - EVIDENCE AGAINST A TRICHLOROMETHYL RADICAL-SCAVENGING MECHANISM

The .CCl3 radical generated during the metabolism of CCl4 is readily spin trapped in vivo and in vitro by phenyl N-tert-butylnitrone (PBN) to form the stable PBN/.CCl3 radical adduct, which can then be extracted into organic solvents and detected by ESR spectroscopy. We have used this technique to examine the proposed protective roles of Zn(II), Cr(III), and metallothionein (MT) against carbon tetrachloride toxicity in vivo. Hepatic MT, which is induced by Zn(II), has been proposed to protect against CCl4-induced cellular damage by scavenging the free radical metabolites formed. CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity was significantly suppressed in male Sprague-Dawley rats pretreated with a single dose of 5 mg/kg Zn(II) or Cr(III) according to standard serum assays for liver-specific enzymes, and hepatic MT was elevated after pretreatment with either Zn(II) or Cr(III). In vitro, no difference was detected in either the amount of CCl4-derived free radical metabolites formed or the rate at which they were formed by microsomes from rats pretreated 24 h in advance with 5 mg/kg Zn(II) or Cr(III). Extraction of rat liver with 2:1 chloroform/methanol 1 h after the administration of a 0.8 mL/kg intraperitoneal or intragastric dose of CCl4 also revealed no difference in the amount of trichloromethyl radical spin trapped in vivo following pretreatment with either Zn(II) or Cr(III). These results suggest that pretreatment with either Zn(II) or Cr(III) does not affect CCl4 metabolism nor does the MT significantly scavenge the trichloromethyl free radical metabolite.