Combination of iron overload plus ethanol and ischemia alone give rise to the same endogenous free iron pool

Iron overload aggravates tissue damage caused by ischemia and ethanol intoxication. The underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon are not yet clear. To clarify these mechanisms we followed free iron (“loosely” bound redox-active iron) concentration in livers from rats subjected to experimental iron overload, acute ethanol intoxication, and ex vivo warm ischemia. The levels of free iron in non-homogenized liver tissues, liver homogenates, and hepatocyte cultures were analyzed by means of EPR spectroscopy. Ischemia gradually increased the levels of endogenous free iron in liver tissues and in liver homogenates. The increase was accompanied by the accumulation of lipid peroxidation products. Iron overload alone, known to increase significantly the total tissue iron, did not affect either free iron levels or lipid peroxidation. Homogenization of iron-loaded livers, however, resulted in the release of a significant portion of free iron from endogenous depositories. Acute ethanol intoxication increased free iron levels in liver tissue and diminished the portion of free iron releasing during homogenization. Similarly to liver tissue, the primary hepatocyte culture loaded with iron in vitro released significantly more free iron during homogenization compared to non iron-loaded hepatocyte culture. Analyzing three possible sources of free iron release under these experimental conditions in liver cells, namely ferritin, intracellular transferrin-receptor complex and heme oxygenase, we suggest that redox active free iron is released from ferritin under ischemic conditions whereas ethanol and homogenization facilitate the release of iron from endosomes containing transferrin-receptor complexes.