Jpn. J. Pharmacol. 72, 299-306 (1996)
Menadione Toxicity in Cultured Rat Cortical Astrocytes
Kazuho Abe and Hiroshi Saito
Department of Chemical Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113, Japan
Abstract: We examined the effect of menadione on the morphology
and viability of cultured astrocytes. Exposure of astrocytes to menadione
induced a progressive cell death. The toxic effect of menadione was
concentration- and time-dependent. Menadione toxicity was blocked by antioxidants,
superoxide dismutase, catalase and iron chelators, indicating that superoxide
anions (O2-), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hydroxyl radicals (ÅEOH) are
all involved in menadione toxicity. Menadione cytotoxicity should be useful
as a model for studying the mechanisms underlying oxidative injury in the
brain and for the screening of drugs that may attenuate cell damage caused
by oxidative stress.
Keywords: Menadione, Toxicity, Reactive oxygen species, Astrocyte, Culture
Copyright© The Japanese Pharmacological Society 1996
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