Polyamine lowered the hepatic lipid peroxide level in rats.

This is the first report for the hepatic lipid peroxide lowering effect of spermine in vivo. The influence of administration of polyamines on hepatic lipid peroxide level has been investigated by using normal or carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-treated rats. Spermine was found to lower the hepatic lipid peroxide level most efficiently among polyamines used in CCl4-treated rats. In addition, the extent of liver enlargement caused by CCl4 treatment was reduced by spermine administration. Lipid peroxide lowering effect of spermine was also observed in normal rats. Hepatic spermine content was significantly increased in both normal and CCl4-treated rats after administration of spermine. Clear inverse relationship between the content of lipid peroxide and the concentration of spermine was observed. In reconstituted system containing NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase and extracted hepatic microsomal lipid, spermine inhibited the NADPH-dependent lipid peroxidation effectively at the concentration of 0.1 mM. From these results, we concluded that spermine exerted an inhibitory effect of lipid peroxidation in vivo as well as in vitro.