title: Hepatoxicity of ricin, saporin or a saporin immunotoxin: xanthine oxidase activity in rat liver and blood serum.
abstract: Male Wistar rats each received an i.p injection of the ribosome-inactivating proteins ricin or saporin, or a Ber-H2 (anti-CD30)-saporin immunotoxin at a dose corresponding to three times the LD50 calculated for mice. Animals were killed 24, 48 or 72 h after treatment. Histological examination showed hepatic necrosis in all treated animals, although the sinusoidal lining was affected only in ricin-poisoned rats. The activities of xanthine dehydrogenase (D-form) and oxidase (O-form) were determined spectrophotometrically in liver and serum samples. In ricin-treated animals the liver enzyme was progressively converted from the D- to the O-form, which accounted for more than 60% of total activity after 48 h of poisoning, whilst no change in the xanthine oxidase activity was found in the serum. In the liver of rats treated with free or Ber-H2-conjugated saporin, the D-form was more than 75%, as in normal animals. In the same animals the serum xanthine oxidase activity was up to three-fold control values. The determination of serum xanthine oxidase may prove helpful in the evaluation of liver damage in patients treated with immunotoxins. It may become a diagnostic tool for the differential diagnosis of liver diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Pathology, University of Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Battelli
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Buonamici
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Polito
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bolognesi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Stirpe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000922:Immunotoxins / Q000633:toxicity*; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009699:N-Glycosyl Hydrolases; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D054789:Ribosome Inactivating Proteins, Type 1; D012276:Ricin / Q000276:immunology / Q000633:toxicity*; D000076985:Saporins; D014968:Xanthine Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D014969:Xanthine Oxidase / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000922:Immunotoxins; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen; D010940:Plant Proteins; D054789:Ribosome Inactivating Proteins, Type 1; D012276:Ricin; D014968:Xanthine Dehydrogenase; D014969:Xanthine Oxidase; D009699:N-Glycosyl Hydrolases; D000076985:Saporins