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We studied the effect of piribedil (1-3,4-methylendioxybenzyl-4-(2-pyrimidyl) piperazine) and its catechol metabolite, S584 (1-(3,4-dihydroxybenzyl-4-(2-pyrimidinyl)-piperazine), on rat brain lipid peroxidation (a) in vitro in rat synaptosomes and cortical slices after induction of an oxidative stress and (b) in vivo in mouse brain after short-term exposure (two and three 4-h cycles) to O2/CO2 (95%:5%). The metabolite (10[-4]-10[-5] M), but not piribedil, prevented Fe3+-stimulated lipid peroxidation in rat synaptosomes and in rat cortical slices incubated with high oxygen concentrations. Piribedil (7.5 and 30 mg/kg, orally), counteracted the increase in thiobarbituric reactive substances in the brain of mice only when these were exposed to two or three cycles of a high oxygen concentration. S584 (30 mg/kg, orally) reduced thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in brain in mice exposed either to air (control) or to three cycles of a high oxygen concentration. These results suggest that piribedil has an antiperoxidative effect in brain, which may be partly related to the in vivo formation of the catechol metabolite, S584.