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Rapid Quantification of Oxidized and Reduced Forms of Glutathione Using Ortho -phthalaldehyde in Cultured Mammalian Cells In Vitro
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Rapid Quantification of Oxidized and Reduced Forms of Glutathione Using Ortho -phthalaldehyde in Cultured Mammalian Cells In Vitro

Published on: June 28, 2024

Glutathione deficiency in cardiac patients is related to the functional status and structural cardiac abnormalities

Thibaud Damy1, Matthias Kirsch, Lara Khouzami

  • 1Département de Chirurgie Cardiaque, AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier Henri-Mondor Albert-Chenevier, Fédération de Cardiologie, Créteil, France.

Plos One
|March 26, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Glutathione deficiency in the heart and blood is linked to heart disease severity and functional decline. Blood glutathione levels may serve as an early biomarker for detecting asymptomatic cardiac abnormalities.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Biochemistry
  • Biomarkers

Background:

  • Glutathione (L-gamma-glutamyl-cysteinyl-glycine) is vital for cell survival.
  • Deficiency in cardiac and systemic glutathione is associated with heart failure progression and cardiac remodeling in animal models.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate cardiac and blood glutathione levels in patients with varying functional classes and structural heart diseases.
  • To explore the relationship between glutathione levels and heart disease severity.

Main Methods:

  • Glutathione was measured using an enzymatic recycling method in blood samples from 91 individuals (15 healthy, 76 patients).
  • Glutathione was quantified in right atrial appendages from patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
  • Patients were categorized by New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class (I-IV) and cardiac conditions (coronary artery disease, aortic stenosis, cardiomyopathy).

Main Results:

  • Cardiac glutathione was significantly depleted (-58%) in NYHA class IV patients compared to class I.
  • In coronary artery disease patients, glutathione depletion correlated with left ventricular dysfunction severity.
  • Blood glutathione was reduced by 21% in NYHA class I patients and 40% in symptomatic patients (NYHA class II-IV) compared to controls.
  • Blood glutathione depletion preceded elevation of sTNFR1, a marker of symptomatic heart failure.

Conclusions:

  • Cardiac and systemic glutathione deficiency correlates with functional status and structural abnormalities in cardiac patients.
  • Blood glutathione testing may be a novel biomarker for detecting asymptomatic patients with structural cardiac abnormalities.
Abstract

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