Effects of amlodipine, captopril, and bezafibrate on oxidative milieu in rats with fatty liver

Oxidative stress may initiate significant hepatocyte injury in subjects with fatty liver. We characterized changes in hepatic oxidative anti-oxidative parameters in rats given a fructose-enriched diet (FED) with and without medications to reduce blood pressure or plasma triglycerides. FED rats had an increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, a reduction in α-tocopherol concentration, a reduction in paraoxonase (PON) activity, an increase in glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and glutathione reductase (GSSG-R) activity. Amlodipine increased PON and GSH-Px, but decreased GSSG-R activity and α-tocopherol concentration. Captopril decreased MDA concentration and the activity of both GSH-Px and GSSG-R, but increased α-tocopherol concentration and PON activity. Bezafibrate increased α-tocopherol concentration and PON activity, but decreased the activity of GSSG-R. Animals with fatty liver exhibit an increase in peroxidative stress but also a defect in anti-oxidative pathways. Drugs administered to treat hypertension and hypertriglyceridemia could lead to a variety of changes in the hepatic oxidative, anti-oxidative milieu.