Measurements of hepatic malondialdehyde and conjugated diene concentrations in 24‐hour endotoxemic rats

The aim of our study was to analyze if intraperitoneally administered E-coli endotoxin (1-7 mg.kg-1) causes an increase in liver malondialdehyde (MDA) and conjugated dienes, 24 h postinjection. Blood glucose, white blood cell counts, liver edema and mortality were also measured. The results of our study show that there were no signs of increased MDA or diene production in the liver. To our surprise, blood leukocyte counts of the experimental groups were not statistically different from controls. In the endotoxemic animals there was a slight liver edema which, however, did not influence the measurements of the lipid peroxidation metabolites. Blood glucose levels were decreased in the endotoxemic animals. There was no mortality in our study, perhaps due to the fact that the rats were fed and not starved. We conclude that, in our study, a bolus dose of endotoxin i.p. does not cause any signs of increased liver lipid peroxidation 24 h postinjection. The liver seems, however, to be affected with slight edema and low blood glucose levels.