Abstract
Expired ethane is regarded as a noninvasive indicator of lipid peroxidation. As a model of oxidative stress we have investigated in male Wistar rats (body wt. 309 ± 15 g) the effects of various levels of elevated inspiratory oxygen concentrations on the expiration rate of ethane. After 4 days under 21 vol% O2 (basic condition) the rats were exposed for 6 or 5 days to 40, 60 or 80 vol% O2 over 8 or 23 h/day. The variously O2-enriched air was conducted through the cages and expired ethane adsorbed onto charcoal was thermo-desorbed and measured by gas chromatography. Basic ethane expiration was 3.1 ± 0.8 pmol/100 g body wt. per min. At 40 vol% O2 over 8 or 23 h/day no increase or a maximum average 47% increase (P < 0.01) in ethane expiration occurred on day 4; 60 vol% O2 over 8 or 23 h/day led to a corresponding increase of 56 or 87% (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) on day 3; 80 vol% O2 over 8 or 23 h/day led to a corresponding increase of 81 or 66% (P < 0.01) on days 3 or 2. Our results indicate that with up to 60 vol% O2 a temporary increase in lipid peroxidation occurs in a dose dependent manner. However, at 80 vol% O2 no further increase in the maximum ethane expiration occurred. The latter finding and the finding of only transient increase in ethane expiration in probably due to antioxidative counteraction.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received: 7 October 1997 / Accepted: 3 November 1997
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kritzler, K., Schöch, G. & Topp, H. Expiration of ethane in rats under variously elevated inspiratory O2-concentrations. Arch Toxicol 72, 244–246 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002040050496
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002040050496