Mechanism of paraquat-stimulated lipid peroxidation in mouse brain and pulmonary microsomes.

Paraquat-stimulated NADPH-dependent lipid peroxidation in mouse brain and pulmonary microsomes was inhibited by superoxide dismutase and singlet oxygen quenchers, but not by catalase or hydroxyl radical scavengers. MnCl2, which might form a salt with unsaturated lipid, inhibited the lipid peroxidation in brain microsomes, but not that in pulmonary microsomes. These findings suggest that activated oxygen species, especially superoxide and singlet oxygen, may play a major role in the stimulation of microsomal lipid peroxidation by paraquat in both brain and lung, and that the nature of the lipids exposed to peroxidative attack may be different in microsomes of the two organs.