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Glutathione contents in rat livers after acute and chronic exposure to ethylene oxide
K Nakashima1, A Furutani, K Higashi
1Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.
Abstract:
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.