The total antioxidant status in the brain after ethanol or 4-methylpyrazole administration to rats intoxicated with methanol

In the study, the potential interaction of methanol/ethanol and methanol/4-methylpyrazole within the scope of the total antioxidant status (TAS) in rat brain was investigated. The experiment was carried out on rats exposed to N2O/O2 mixture (1:1 v/v) which enable to obtain similar response of rat organism to methanol poisoning as that observed in humans. The rats were exposed to N2O/O2 mixture 4 h before the administration of methanol or saline. The exposure to N2O/O2 was continued throughout the experiment. Methanol was administered orally at a dose of 3.0 g/kg, then, after next 4 h ethanol (0.5 or 1 g/kg) or 4-methylpyrazole (4-MP) (15.0 or 50.0 mg/kg.) was administered by i.p. injection. TAS in rat brain homogenates was assayed spectrophotometrically at λ=600. The mean concentration of TAS in rats exposed to N2O/O2 mixture did not differ from that determined for control rats. A slight decrease in TAS concentration was found in all groups of rats intoxicated with methanol and ethanol or 4-MP and methanol alone. There was no interaction between methanol and 4-MP. However, a significant decrease in TAS concentration was observed in rats following the ingestion of methanol and than after the administration of 1.0 g/kg of ethanol in comparison to rats receiving methanol alone (p<0.05). This phenomenon suggests an adverse interaction of methanol/ethanol within scope of the brain antioxidant status equilibrium.