Effects of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) on the oxidative status of rat liver

To investigate oxidative effects of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) on the liver, rats were challenged by the reagent with a dose range of 10 to 40 mg/kg. With lower dose levels, protective responses were prominent, such as elevation of the hepatic glutathione and metallothionein (MT) levels. Increased activities were also evident of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), and malic enzyme. In the high dose range, however, toxic responses, such as increases in lipid peroxide levels in liver and serum, and glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT), and ketone bodies in serum became marked. Some of the protective responses became less marked at the highest dose. Catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities in the liver were also inhibited by NDMA treatment. On the other hand, when NDMA was injected as a series of doses (10 mg/kg on four separate occasions), the effects were less marked, and the hepatic levels of MT and lipid peroxide remained unchanged even after the 4th injection. Only the increase in G6PD activity was more marked after four times repeated injection than after a single injection. These results suggest that oxidative and hepatotoxic effects of NDMA are more moderate when given in repeated doses than in a single dose. In contrast to the liver, elevation of MT levels was the only detectable change in the kidney.