Oxidative DNA damage by t-butyl hydroperoxide causes DNA single strand breaks which is not linked to cell lysis. A mechanistic study in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes.

In rat hepatocytes, DNA damage by t-butyl hydroperoxide (tBOOH) was measured by using the fluorimetric analysis of alkaline DNA unwinding. The electrophoretic profile of genomic DNA suggests single rather than double DNA strand breaks formation. Oxidative DNA modifications, measured as increased 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine content, were not detected. Lysis of hepatocytes and DNA strand breaks induced by tBOOH did not correlate, indicating that both processes are not interconnected. Since o-phenanthroline prevents against tBOOH-mediated effects on both DNA and membrane integrity, we discussed about a putative role of iron.