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Exposure to the herbicides Paraquat and Roundup® may cause cell lesions due to an increase in oxidative stress levels in different biological systems, even in the liver. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of melatonin on liver of rats exposed to herbicides. A total of 35 rats were randomly divided into seven equal-sized groups: control, Paraquat, Roundup®, Paraquat + Roundup®, Paraquat + melatonin, Roundup® + melatonin, and Paraquat + Roundup® + melatonin. Samples of blood and hepatic tissue were collected at the end of the seventh day of exposure and treatment with melatonin. Body weight, hematological parameters, and histopathological, biochemical analyses and determination of oxidative stress levels in liver were evaluated. Body weight was compromised (P

[reaction: see text] Ketyl radicals with lignin related structures have been generated by means of radiation chemical and photochemical techniques. In the former studies ketyl radicals are produced by reaction of alpha-carbonyl-beta-aryl ether lignin models with the solvated electron produced by pulse radiolysis of an aqueous solution at pH 6.0. The UV-vis spectra of ketyl radicals are characterized by three main absorption bands. The shape and position of these bands slightly change when the spectra are recorded in alkaline solution (pH 11.0) being now assigned to the ketyl radical anions and a pKa = 9.5 is determined for the 1-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-2-phenoxyethanol-1-yl radical. Decay rates of ketyl radicals are found to be dose dependent and, at low doses, lie in the range (1.7-2.7) x 10(3) s(-1). In the presence of oxygen a fast decay of the ketyl radicals is observed (k2 = 1.8-2.7 x 10(9) M(-1) s(-1)) that is accompanied by the formation of stable products, i.e., the starting ketones. In the photochemical studies ketyl radicals have been produced by charge-transfer (CT) photoactivation of the electron donor-acceptor salts of methyl viologen (MV2+) with alpha-hydroxy-alpha-phenoxymethyl-aryl acetates. This process leads to the instantaneous formation of the reduced acceptor (methyl viologen radical cation, MV+*), as is clearly shown in a laser flash photolysis experiment by the two absorption bands centered at 390 and 605 nm, and an acyloxyl radical [ArC(CO2*))(OH)CH2(OC6H5)], which undergoes a very fast decarboxylation with formation of the ketyl radicals. Steady-state photoirradiation of the CT ion pairs indicates that 1-aryl-2-phenoxyethanones are formed as primary photoproducts by oxidation of ketyl radicals by MV2+ (under argon) or by molecular oxygen. Small amounts of acetophenones are formed by further photolysis of 1-aryl-2-phenoxyethanones and not by beta-fragmentation of the ketyl radicals. The high reactivity of ketyl radicals with oxygen coupled with the low rates of beta-fragmentation of the same species have an important bearing in the context of the photoyellowing of lignin containing pulps and papers.