Carbon tetrachloride-induced lipid peroxidation: simultaneous in vivo measurements of pentane and chloroform exhaled by the rat.

Simultaneous measurements of pentane, an index of lipid peroxidation, and chloroform (CHCl3), an index of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) metabolism, were made on samples of breath from rats injected with 30 microliter CCL4/100 g body wt. In the first 3 h after administration of CCl4, rats fasted overnight metabolized less CCl4 and exhaled less pentane than did fed rats. Multiple injections of CCl4 decreased both the metabolism of CCl4 to CHCl3 and the level of in vivo lipid peroxidation following administration of a subsequent dose of CCl4. Dietary vitamin E provided limited protection from CCl4-induced lipid peroxidation and had no effect on the rate of CCl4 metabolism to CHCl3.