Glutathione administration against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity does not modify its cytotoxic activity

Glutathione (GSH) is an intracellular thiol compound which has been shown to protect against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity, in animal models and clinical trials. In order to determine whether GSH interferes with cisplatin activity, the lymphoma L5178Y was implanted in 50 DBA/2 mice, and then they were treated with cisplatin with or without previous GSH. Two similar experiments were carried out with three different groups: Group 1: Control group without cisplatin; Group 2: Treatment with cisplatin without GSH, and Group 3: GSH administration prior to cisplatin. Tumor area and survival have been considered as parameters to measure the activity of cisplatin. The average Values of tumor areas in the mice pretreated with GSH were not significantly different from those corresponding to the group treated with cisplatin alone. Sixty days survival was 55% and 73% in the groups pretreated with GSH and with cisplatin alone respectively, the difference was not statistically significant. In conclusion, GSH administration prior to cisplatin does not modify its cytotoxic activity.