Intravenous administration of glutathione protects parenchymal and non-parenchymal liver cells against reperfusion injury following rat liver transplantation

Figure 5 Plasma GSH- and GSSG concentrations following liver transplantation. Compared to sham-operated animals (n = 5) a significant increase of reduced and oxidized glutathione was determined upon reperfusion of untreated grafts (n = 8). Intravenous infusion of GSH at rates of 50 µmol/(h·kg) (n = 5) and 100 µmol/(h·kg) (n = 5) resulted in a dose- dependent in-crease of plasma GSH concentrations. The corresponding GSSG levels showed only a slight increase after administration of 50 µmol GSH/(h·kg), but increased markedly following infusion of 100 µmol GSH/(h·kg). Mean ± SE. ^aP < 0.05 vs sham; ^bP < 0.001 and ^cP < 0.05 vs control group; ^eP < 0.05 vs GSH 50 and ^fP < 0.01 vs GSH 50.