The glutathione content of blood and tissues following alloxan and dehydroascorbic acid injections

Abstract

After the intravenous injection of diabetogenic amounts of alloxan, the concentrations of glutathione (GSH) and total glutathione (GSH - oxidized glutathione) are greatly decreased in the blood of rabbits and rats. Following the intravenous injection of diabetogenic doses of alloxan into rats, the GSH concentration in the liver shows a precipitous fall, but that of the pancreas remains practically unchanged. Oxidized glutathione, which is not present in the liver of normal rats, does not appear in this tissue in significant amounts after such injection. We have failed to produce hyper-glycemia in rabbits given large doses of dehydroascorbic acid by intravenous injection. In contrast, hyperglycemia was regularly produced in rats given dehydroascorbic acid by intravenous injection. When dehydroascorbic acid is injected intravenously into rabbits, the concentration of GSH, oxidized glutathione and total glutathione in the blood does not change significantly. In rats made permanently hyperglycemic with dehydroascorbic acid the concentration of GSH in the blood, liver and pancreas is not altered; the content of oxidized glutathione of the blood remains the same and it does not appear in significant amounts in liver and pancreas. Immediately following the intravenous injection of diabetogenic amounts of dehydroascorbic acid to rats the blood concentration of GSH and oxidized glutathione of the blood remains the same and it does not appear in significant amounts in liver and pancreas. Immediately following the intravenous injection of diabetogenic amounts of dehydroascorbic acid to rabbits the blood concentration of GSH and oxidized glutathione was unaltered, but the concentration of GSH and total glutathione in the liver was markedly decreased without the appearance of oxidized glutathione. GSH content of the pancreas showed no diminution. Results indicate that the reduction in the concentrations of GSH in the blood and liver of rats and in the blood of rabbits after alloxan injection and of GSH in the liver of rats after the injection of dehydroascorbic acid is not solely or even largely due to oxidation of reduced to oxidized glutathione.