Organ chemiluminescence: Noninvasive assay for oxidative radical reactions (light emission/nondestructive biochemistry/free radical reactions/liver in situ/perfused liver)

In situ and perfused rat livers showed a spon- taneous chemiluminescence of 7-12 counts/seccm2 (corre- sponding to 7-12 X 103 photons/seccm2); chemiluminescence was increased up to 30 times by infusion of exogenous hydro- peroxides. The chemiluminescence of the perfused liver was oxygen dependent. Ethyl, t-butyl, and cumene hydroperoxides were almost equally effective in inducing light emission in the perfused liver. Glutathione release and chemiluminescence showed' a parallel increase upon hydroperoxide supply to the perfused liver. A partial spectral analysis of the chemilumi- nescence of the perfused liver showed a predominance of red- light-emitting species, presumably arising from the singlet oxygen dimol-emission peaks. Many side reactions derived from the complex free radical sequence of lipid peroxidation could afford the chemistry leading to light emission, which represents only about 10-14 of the utilization of peroxide.