[Determination of the biliary excretion of reduced and oxidized glutathione]

An enzymatic method is presented for the detection of biliary excretion of reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione. The biliary excretion of GSH is 65.63 +/- 7.23 nmoles/kg b.w. x min and of GSSG 5.90 +/- 0.64 nmoles/kg b.w. x min in 55 day-old female rats, respectively. The recovery is 97.39 +/- 0.40% for GSH and 91.05 +/- 2.30% for GSSG. Cysteine which can be detected in bile, does not influence the accuracy of the results.