Membrane lipid peroxidation has been suggested to participate in the nigral degeneration of Parkinson's disease. In the present study, we demonstrate that bromocriptine inhibits lipid peroxidation in phospholipid liposomes induced by dopa and iron complexes. Because this lipid peroxidation is not mediated by active oxygen species, antioxidant properties of bromocriptine do not seem to be derived from radical scavenging effects in our experimental conditions. Bromocriptine had no scavenging effect on superoxide produced by hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase when determined by the chemiluminescence assay using MCLA, a Cypridina luciferin analog, as a probe.