Possible influence of glutathione on postischemic liver injury

The effect of the free radical scavenger glutathione (GSH) on the early post-ischemic liver cell death was studied on liver tissue of the rat. Animals with different pre-ischemic liver GSH contents were subjected to a 90 min period of ischemia, followed by a 3 h period of reperfusion. Cell death was evaluated morphologically by estimating intracellular calcium, using the stain Alizarin red S (ARS), and by dye-exclusion test using Evans blue. The extent of post-ischemic injury was also assessed by registration of the membrane potential (MP) in liver cells. Four groups of animals were studied: 1) fed rats. 2) fed rats pretreated with diethylmaleate. 3) rats fasted for 48 h. 4) fasted rats pretreated with cobalt-chloride. It was found that the early post-ischemic cell death was more extensive in rats with low initial GSH content (group 2 and 3), than in rats with high GSH content (group 1 and 4). It is suggested that GSH is protective against post-ischemic injury, probably by reducing lipid peroxidation.