Cell death process induced by hydrogen peroxide is accelerated by clioquinol in rat thymocytes

We examined the effect of clioquinol on the process of cell death induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) using a flow cytometric technique with propidium iodide and annexin V-FITC in order to see if clioquinol augments the toxicity caused by oxidative stress. Clioquinol (100 nM) alone did not change the process of spontaneous cell death. However, the agent accelerated the process of cell death induced by 300 μM H2O2. Result indicates that clioquinol augments the cytotoxicity induced by H2O2. Therefore, the use of clioquinol may be inadequate for the treatment of some diseases related to oxidative stress.