Primaquine-induced hemolytic anemia: Effect of 6-methoxy-8-hydroxylaminoquinoline on rat erythrocyte sulfhydryl status, membrane lipids, cytoskeletal proteins, and morphology

Previous studies have shown that 6-methoxy-8-hydroxylaminoquinoline (MAQ-NOH), an N-hydroxy metabolite of the antimalarial drug, primaquine, is a direct-acting hemolytic agent in rats. To investigate the mechanism underlying this hemolytic activity, the effects of hemotoxic concentrations of MAQ-NOH on rat erythrocyte sulfhydryl status, membrane lipids, skeletal proteins, and morphology have been examined. Treatment of rat erythrocytes with a TC₅₀ concentration of MAQ-NOH (350 μM) caused only a modest and transient depletion of reduced glutathione (GSH) (∼30%), which was matched by modest increases in the levels of glutathione disulfide and glutathione-protein mixed disulfides. Lipid peroxidation, as measured by thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and F₂-isoprostane formation, was induced in a concentration-dependent manner by MAQ-NOH. However, the formation of disulfide-linked hemoglobin adducts on membrane skeletal proteins and changes in erythrocyte morphology were not observed. These data suggest that hemolytic activity results from peroxidative damage to the lipid of the red cell membrane and is not dependent on skeletal protein thiol oxidation. However, when red cell GSH was depleted (>90%) by titration with diethyl maleate, hemolytic activity of MAQ-NOH was markedly enhanced. Of interest, exacerbation of hemotoxicity was not matched by increases in lipid peroxidation, but by the appearance of hemoglobin-skeletal protein adducts. Collectively, the data are consistent with the concept that MAQ-NOH may operate by more than one mechanism; one that involves lipid peroxidation in the presence of normal amounts of erythrocytic GSH, and one that involves protein oxidation in red cells with low levels of GSH, such as are seen in individuals with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.