The role of oxygen free radicals in isoniazid-induced hepatotoxicity.

Isoniazid and its metabolites acetylisoniazid, hydrazine and monoacetylhydrazine were investigated for generation of oxygen free radicals during incubation with rat liver slices. Lipid peroxidation was assessed by the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances test using malonaldehyde as the external standard, while hepatotoxicity was assessed by histopathology studies. Malonaldehyde formed in liver slices after 10 hours of incubation with the drugs was 1.28 +/- 0.24 nmol/mg for isoniazid (control 1.12 +/- 0.17 nmol/mg); 0.88 +/- 0.45 nmol/mg for acetylisoniazid (control 0.84 +/- 0.42 nmol/mg); 1.43 +/- 0.14 nmol/mg for monoacetylhydrazine (control 1.10 +/- 0.12 nmol/mg) and 1.36 +/- 0.02 nmol/mg for hydrazine (control 1.13 +/- 0.04 nmol/mg). Histologically, all slices exhibited hepatic necrosis by 4 hours. However, hydrazine-induced hepatotoxicity was characterized by nuclear hyperchromatsia, karyolysis and karyohexis while monoacetylhydrazine exhibited hydropic karyomegaly only. Isoniazid and acetylisoniazid cytotoxicity exhibited a mixture of the above features such that it could be attributed to the two metabolites, hydrazine and monoacetylhydrazine. In conclusion, there was no evidence implicating oxygen free radicals in isoniazid-induced hepatotoxicity; however, the histopathology findings indicate a need for a review of our knowledge on pathognomonic features of isoniazid hepatotoxicity.