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.
Nakashima
K
K
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.
Furutani
A
A
Higashi
K
K
Okuno
F
F
Inoue
N
N
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