The liver is the prime organ concerned with various states of metabolic and physiologic homeostasis of organism and is a key organ of metabolism and excretion playing an important role in the maintenance of internal environment of the body through its multiple and diverse functions. It is continuously exposed to a variety of xenobiotics and therapeutic agents exposing the organ to numerous and ...

Many xenobiotics, including naturally occurring compounds, drugs, and environmental agents, are metabolized both in vivo and in vitro to free-radical intermediates. The one-electron reduction of nitroaromatic compounds, quinones, and a wide variety of other chemicals is catalyzed enzymatically by a number of reductases and dehydrogenases. Structure-activity studies have shown that the cytotoxic...