A new potent inhibitor of lipid peroxidation in vitro and in vivo, the hepatoprotective drug anisyldithiolthione.

The drug anisyldithiolthione (ADT) acted as a good inhibitor of lipid peroxidation induced in rat liver microsomes either chemically by FeSO4 and reducing agents (cysteine or ascorbate) or enzymatically by NADPH and CC14. ADT was found as potent as propylgallate with IC50 around 2 microM and much more potent than vitamin E and levamisole. ADT was also found as a good inhibitor of ethane exhalation by rats treated by CCI4 (ID50 approximately 5mg per kg) and by mice intoxicated by acetaminophen (ID50 approximately 0.7 mg per kg). At doses as low as 5 mg per kg it completely suppressed ethane exhalation by acetaminophen-intoxicated mice and also protected them very efficiently against mortality caused by acetaminophen overdose. The inhibitory effect of ADT toward lipid peroxidation seems to be linked to the presence of its dithiolthione function.