Glutathione reductase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in erythrocytes treated with heavy metals

Our previous study (Ribarov et al., 1982) indicated, that the level of reduced glutathione in erythrocytes treated with Ag+, Hg2+, Cu2+ and Pb2+ was decreased. In an attempt to shed light on this phenomenon in the present work glutathione reductase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in erythrocytes incubated with heavy metals were investigated. The result obtained indicate that the glutathione reductase is significantly inactivated by Ag+, Hg2+ and Cu2+. The glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity was found to decrease only in erythrocytes incubated with Ag+ and Hg2+. No correlation between the inactivation of the enzymes tested and the decrease of the level of GSH was observed. A conclusion is made that the decrease of the level of GSH is not due to inactivation of the enzymes tested.