Further studies on the mechanism of the late protective effects of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride on carbon tetrachloride-induced liver necrosis

We previously reported that phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) administration to rats (100 mg/kg, ip in olive oil) as late as 6 or 10 hr after CCl4 (1 ml/kg, ip as a 20% v/v solution in olive oil) can partially prevent the necrogenic response to the hepatotoxin at 24 hr. Here we confirm that observation by electron microscopy and provide further evidence that only in these circumstances were nuclear clumping of chromatin, slight dilatation of the endoplasmic reticulum, myelin figures and lipid droplets in the cytoplasm, large numbers of lysosomes and peroxisomes, glycogen, and slightly swollen mitochondria observable in the protected animals. A very minor part of the late protective effects of PMSF might be due to the effects of this drug on decreasing the intensity of covalent binding of CCl4-reactive metabolites or the intensity of CCl4-induced lipid peroxidation still occurring 6 or 10 hr after CCl4. PMSF administration did not prevent CCl4-induced decreases in cytochrome P450 content or glucose-6-phosphatase activity but partially prevented CCl4-induced calcium accumulation in liver. PMSF treatment increased glutathione and glycogen content in CCl4-poisoned animals, but did not markedly modify protein/phospholipid synthesis or degradation processes. Results suggest that the late protective effects of PMSF administration in CCl4-induced liver necrosis might be due to a favorable modulation of the calcium-calmodulin system similar to that previously described for other drugs.