The effect of imipramine on lipid peroxidation in the rat cerebral cortex.

The effect of imipramine (IMI) on lipid peroxidation in the rat cerebral cortex was investigated in ex vivo and in vitro study. It was found that IMI when given to rats chronically (14 x 10 mg/kg ip) but not acutely (10 mg/kg ip), inhibited lipid peroxidation in the cortical membranes of rat brain. When added in different concentrations (0.125-10.0 nmoles/sample) to the cerebral cortical membranes of naive rats in vitro, IMI inhibited lipid peroxidation in concentration-dependent fashion. Using [3H]-IMI it was found that employed procedure for membrane preparation did not removed IMI from cortical membranes of rats treated chronically with the drug and this might explain the lack of antioxidant effect of IMI in animals treated with a single dose of IMI in ex vivo study. A comparative study of IMI and chlorpromazine (CPZ)-whose inhibitory effect on the free radicals formation has been found before-indicated the higher potency of IMI than that of CPZ as radical scavenger in ex vivo and in vitro studies. The results imply that IMI might affect the brain function also through its effect on lipid peroxidation.