Glutathione contents in rat livers after acute and chronic exposure to ethylene oxide.
Wistar rats were subjected to a 6 hr exposure to ethylene oxide once at the concentration of 500 ppm, 3 times a week for 12 weeks as a chronic experiment. Hepatic glutathione contents were determined after these treatments. The specific content of reduced form of glutathione (GSH) in the rat livers of chronic exposures was 28.9 nmoles/mg protein, which is not significantly different from that of control group. On the other hand, the hepatic content of GSH in rats subjected to a 4 hr exposure to ethylene oxide at a concentration of 2500 ppm decreased markedly to the levels of 5% of control value. The present results suggest the involvement of glutathione, at least in part, in the detoxication of ethylene oxide.
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.
K
K
Nakashima
A
A
Furutani
K
K
Higashi
F
F
Okuno
N
N
Inoue
D000818:Animals; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005027:Ethylene Oxide / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005978:Glutathione / Q000032:analysis*; D008658:Inactivation, Metabolic; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D005978:Glutathione; D005027:Ethylene Oxide