Abstract
Using spontaneously hypertensive rats, we studied the effect of allopurinol, a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, on lipid peroxidation in the cerebral tissue after reperfusion for 30 minutes following the occlusion of the bilateral common carotid artery for 3 hours. In the present study, the malonyldialdehyde (MDA) values were measured as indicators for lipid peroxides in the cerebral tissue, and compared them between the group pretreated with oral administrations of allopurinol (400 mg/kg) and the non-treated control group.
As a result, the MDA value measured were found to be 68.9 ± 3.46 n mol/gm in the Sham-operated group and 83.27 ± 5.18 n mol/gm in the control group. However, the allopurinol-treated group showed a level as low as 67.62 ± 3.28 n mol/gm which was significant compared to that of the control group (p<0.05).
These results suggest the possibility that allopurinol inhibits the lipid peroxidation caused by the xanthine oxidase-linked free radical induced by cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.
