Enzymatic and Molecular Aspects of the Antioxidant Effect of Menadione in Hepatic Microsomes

The enzymatic features and molecular species of the inhibitory action of menadione on lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomes were examined. In an ascorbate-supported system or a NADH-supported reconstituted system containing NADH–cytochrome b5reductase and cytochrome b5, menadione was not an inhibitor of lipid peroxidation at pH 7.5, while some antioxidant ability was observed at lower pH ranges. Lipid peroxidation in the presence of menadione in the NADH-supported reconstituted system at pH 7.5 was markedly inhibited by adding lipoamide dehydrogenase. NAD(P)H-supported lipid peroxidation in microsomes with increased DT-diaphorase activity from 3-methylcholanthrene-treated rats was highly susceptible to menadione. These inhibitions were abolished by dicoumarol, an inhibitor of DT-diaphorase. Cumene hydroperoxide-dependent lipid peroxidation in microsomes, with desferal and NADP+to prevent nonheme iron-dependent reactions and oxygen radical generation, was inhibited by menadione in the presence of NADPH, and the inhibition was also more effective in the microsomes with increased DT-diaphorase activity. Menadiol reacted with 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) in ethanol at a molar ratio of DPPH/menadiol at 1.9. In an iron-supported reconstituted enzymatic or a nonenzymatic system at pH 7.5, menadiol showed an antioxidant effect at an early stage, followed by a prooxidant effect, which was prevented by SOD, probably by protecting menadiol autooxidation. These results show that menadione exerts an antioxidant effect through participation of microsomal DT-diaphorase by generating menadiol with a radical scavenging ability, while menadiol also has a prooxidant property.