BRAIN AND LIVER LIPID-PEROXIDATION LEVELS FOLLOWING ACUTE AND SHORT-TERM LINDANE ADMINISTRATION IN THE RAT

Oxidative stress-related parameters in rat brain and liver were evalua ted following acute (60 mg/kg i.p., 2 and 24 h after dosing) or short- term (1000 ppm in the diet for 90 days) lindane administration. Both t reatments elicited a significant accumulation of lindane in brain and liver, with convulsions observed in short-term and 24-h lindane-treate d rats. In these conditions, lindane exposure did not alter brain lipi d peroxidation, assessed as thiobarbituric acid reactants formation an d spontaneous chemiluminescence, parameters that were enhanced in the liver. The activities of antioxidant enzymes in the brain (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase) were not modified by acute lindane treatment, while brain glutathione content was significantly reduced by 13%. It is concluded that lindane does not alter the oxidative stre ss status of the brain as occurs in liver, regardless of the time of e xposure of rats to either acute or short-term administration of the in secticide.