Morphological changes of cultured rat hepatocytes exposed to methylglyoxal. Calcium-independence of injury.

Methylglyoxal-induced morphological changes were studied in cultured rat hepatocytes. Hepatocytes incubated either in the presence or absence of 2.5 mM Ca2+ were injured by 10 mM methylglyoxal to a similar extent, while 1 mM of the alpha-oxoaldehyde caused a moderate damage only in the absence of Ca2+. In the absence of Ca2+, however, hepatocytes were already injured, even without the presence of methylglyoxal hepatotoxicity proceeds independently of the Ca2+ influx.