title: Glutathione-peroxidase and glutathione-reductase activities of normal and pathologic human liver: relationship with age.
abstract: Liver glutathione-peroxidase (L-GSH-Px) and glutathione-reductase (GSSG-Red) activities were measured in supernatants of liver tissues obtained from a total of 36 subjects. Sixteen of these patients had a functionally normal liver (control group), whereas of the remaining 20 patients, 10 were cirrhotic and 10 had a liver disease other than cirrhosis. The mean value of L-GSH-Px of the control group was 33.12 +/- 12.66 U/g protein, a value similar to that found in patients with liver disease. The L-GSH-Px of the control group was positively correlated with the age of the subjects (r = 0.620; p less than 0.02). In contrast, in patients with liver disease an opposite behaviour of the two parameters was noted (r = -0.497; p less than 0.05). L-GSH-Px activity tended to be higher in males than in females, whereas the erythrocyte glutathione-peroxidase (E-GSH-Px) of the same patients was higher in females, albeit not significantly. L-GSH-Px and E-GSH-Px were not correlated either in normal or in liver disease. The mean GSSG-Red of the control group was 40.63 +/- 11.10 U/g protein, which is not different from that of the group of liver patients. GSSG-Red was not correlated with L-GSH-Px or with the age of patients. In two patients with hepatoma, the GSH-Px activity of the cancer tissue was low and the GSSG-Red activity high.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism*; D005980:Glutathione Reductase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000201:enzymology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000201:enzymology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010544:Peroxidases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010544:Peroxidases; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase; D005980:Glutathione Reductase