Cyclophosphamide-induced depression of the antioxidant defense mechanisms of the lung.

Cyclophosphamide causes lung toxicity in a wide variety of animals, including humans. Recent evidence suggests that oxygen (O2) potentiates cyclophosphamide-induced pulmonary injury. We hypothesized that cyclophosphamide or one of its toxic metabolites, acrolein, may potentiate O2 toxicity by depressing lung antioxidant defense mechanisms. To test this, we gave rats cyclophosphamide (100 mg/kg), acrolein (5 mg/kg), or a vehicle (control) in a single intraperitoneal injection and then killed them during a 5-day study period. Excised lungs were analyzed for reduced glutathione (GSH) content, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), glutathione reductase (GSH-R), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-P), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities. In the lungs of cyclophosphamide-treated rats, GSH content was increased 48% (P less than 0.001) on day 2 but progressively decreased to 50% of control values (P less than 0.001) on day 5. Significant reductions (P less than 0.005) in G6PD, GSH-R, and GSH-P activities occurred on days 1-5, and SOD activity was significantly decreased (P less than 0.005) on days 4 and 5 by cyclophosphamide. In acrolein-treated rats, GSH content and GSH-R, GSH-P, and SOD activities were indistinguishable from those in controls. However, G6PD was increased (35-38%) on days 2 and 3 but returned to control values thereafter. To assess whether the cyclophosphamide-induced reduction in lung antioxidant defenses increased susceptibility to acute O2 toxicity, we gave a separate group of rats cyclophosphamide, acrolein, or vehicle, and 4 days later exposed them to 100% O2 or air at 1 atmosphere absolute. All cyclophosphamide-, acrolein-, and vehicle-treated rats survived 60 h air exposure, and all vehicle-treated rats exposed to 100% O2 survived. In contrast, all of the cyclophosphamide-treated rats exposed to 100% O2 died (P less than 0.05) within 40 h. Acrolein had no effect on survival in 100% O2. These results indicate that cyclophosphamide, but not acrolein, depresses lung antioxidant defense mechanisms, which may be responsible for increased mortality from O2 toxicity in cyclophosphamide-treated animals.