No abstract

Changes in glutathione levels were determined in tissues of 11-to 12-week-old Swiss albino mice at different stages of Daltons lymphoma tumor growth and following cisplatin (8 mg/kg body weight, ip) treatment for 24-96 h, keeping 4-5 animals in each experimental group. Glutathione levels increased in spleen of tumor-bearing compared to normal mice (9.95 ± 0.14 vs 7.86 ± 1.64 µmol/g wet weight, P£0.05) but decreased in blood (0.64 ± 0.10 vs 0.85 ± 0.09 mg/ml) and testes (9.28 ± 0.15 vs 10.16 ± 0.28 µmol/g wet weight, P£0.05). Daltons lymphoma cells showed an increase in glutathione concentration (4.43 ± 0.26 µmol/g wet weight) as compared to splenocytes, their normal counterpart (3.62 ± 0.41 µmol/g wet weight). With the progression of tumor in mice, glutathione levels decreased significantly in testes (~10%) and bone marrow cells (~13%) while they increased in Daltons lymphoma cells (28-46%) and spleen (15-27%). Glutathione levels in kidney, Daltons lymphoma cells and bone marrow cells (8.50 ± 1.22, 4.43 ± 0.26 and 3.28 ± 0.17 µmol/g wet weight, respectively) decreased significantly (6.04 ± 0.42, 3.51 ± 0.32 and 2.17 ± 0.14 µmol/g wet weight, P£0.05) after in vivo cisplatin treatment for 24 h. Along with a decrease in glutathione level, the glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity also decreased by 60% in tumor cells after cisplatin treatment. The elevated drug uptake by the tumor cells under the conditions of reduced glutathione concentration and GST activity after treatment could be an important contributory factor to cisplatins anticancer activity leading to tumor regression. Furthermore, lower doses of cisplatin in combination with buthionine sulfoximine (an inhibitor of glutathione synthesis) may be useful in cancer chemotherapy with decreased toxicity in the host. Correspondence

No abstract

The effect of cisplatin on five glutathione-related enzymes was studied in liver, kidney, and Dalton lymphoma cells of tumor-bearing mice. In liver, the activities of glutathione S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase decreased approximately 30-40%, 60-67%, 35-50% and 70-80% respectively, while glutathione reductase increased about 36-45% after cisplatin treatment. In kidney, catalase activity decreased by 47-82% at all time points (24-96 h) of cisplatin treatment, while glutathione S-transferase activity decreased significantly (approximately 24%) mainly at 72 h of treatment. An increase in glutathione reductase (approximately 1.5-2.5 times), glutathione peroxidase (significant at 24 h, 47%), and superoxide dismutase (approximately 15-60%) was noted in kidney after the treatment. In Dalton lymphoma cells, the activities of glutathione S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase decreased very distinctly (approximately 2-5, 2-5 and 5-11 times, respectively) at all time points, but glutathione reductase decreased significantly only at 72 h of cisplatin treatment. Interestingly, the superoxide dismutase activity in Dalton lymphoma cells increased initially at 24-48 h and then decreased (approximately 60%) during later periods (72-96 h) of treatment. Cisplatin treatment caused a decrease in glutathione level in Dalton lymphoma cells (approximately 14-20%) and kidney (approximately 18-28%) but no change in liver. In view of the results, a definite correlation with the changes in glutathione concentrations and enzymatic activities in a tissue could not be firmly derived. It is suggested that the changes in various glutathione-related enzymes and glutathione levels in the tissues of the host during cisplatin-mediated chemotherapy could affect cellular antioxidant defense potential, which may play an important contributory role in cisplatin-mediated toxicity, particularly nephrotoxicity, and anticancer activity in the host.

The involvement of glutathione, a major cellular antioxidant, in cisplatin-mediated development of various hematological changes in mice bearing ascites Dalton lymphoma tumor was investigated. With tumor growth, glutathione levels decreased in blood but increased in tumor cells. Cisplatin treatment of tumor-bearing mice caused a decrease in glutathione levels in blood, ascites supernatant, and tumor cells. Blood hemoglobin, erythrocytes, packed cell volume and leukocytes (eosinophils, basophils, and lymphocytes) were also decreased along with the development of various morphological abnormalities in erythrocytes (microcytes, macrocytes, echinocytes, acanthocytes, etc.) after cisplatin treatment. All these hematotoxic features were noted to be increased more when buthionine sulfoximine (a specific glutathione-depleting agent) was also given prior to cisplatin treatment. However, combination treatment of cysteine (precursor for glutathione synthesis) plus cisplatin resulted in an improvement in the glutathione levels and decrease in hematological toxicities. It is noted that the glutathione levels in blood and abnormalities in erythrocytes and other hematological parameters are inversely related in cisplatin-mediated cancer chemotherapy. It is suggested that blood glutathione may play an important role in the development of cisplatin-mediated hematological toxicity in the host.