Measurement of ultraweak chemiluminescence emitted from isolated and perfused rat hearts

This paper describes the use of a single-photon counting apparatus (SPCA) for the continuous monitoring of the ultraweak chemiluminescence (UWC) emitted by isolated and perfused rat hearts and deriving from phospholipid peroxydation. Specifically the SPCA was used to assess the peroxidative stress induced in the heart by the addition of an hydroperoxide to the perfusing medium. To this purpose, different hydroperoxides were used and each one produced a tipical and highly reliable temporal evolution of UWC. It was also found that the oxygen availability strongly influences the intensity and the kinetic of the UWC emission. UWC was proved to be a very interesting and promising tool for monitoring the peroxidative damage of biological membranes, both because it makes a continuous assessment possible and because the sensitivity of this method is approximately ten times greater than usual analytical chemistry methods.