Influence of lipid peroxidation and hydrogen peroxide on muscarinic cholinergic receptors and ATP level in rat myocytes and lymphocytes.

Isolated rat neonatal cardiac myocytes and rat lymph-node lymphocytes were treated with Fe2+ cumene hydroperoxide or hydrogen peroxide. The intensity of lipid peroxidation was estimated by measuring production of malondialdehyde (MDA). The level of muscarinic cholinergic receptors was determined by [3H]-QNB binding. Cumene hydroperoxide treatment was found to induce lipid peroxidation in both myocytes and lymphocytes, the process being more pronounced in myocytes. An important decrease of muscarinic cholinergic receptor level and a significant drop of intracellular ATP level in these cells were simultaneously observed. In both cell types, hydrogen peroxide treatment decreased the ATP level while lipid peroxidation and muscarinic cholinergic receptors were unaffected. The different effect of hydrogen peroxide on lipid peroxidation and the level of muscarinic cholinergic receptors on the one hand and the ATP level on the other suggests that this substance acts mainly in the intracellular space.