Lipid peroxidation, glutathione and ascorbic acid concentrations in tissues of mice treated with oltipraz: influence of cysteine and olive oil pretreatments.

1. The effects of treatment with the antischistosomal drug oltipraz on reduced glutathione (GSH), lipid peroxide (LP) and ascorbic acid (AA) concentrations in the liver, kidney and brain were studied in mice 24 h after drug administration. 2. The influence of pretreatment with cysteine or olive oil on the above variables in oltipraz-treated mice was also investigated. 3. Oltipraz, at single oral doses of 25 and 125 mg/kg, did not affect significantly the concentrations of GSH, LP or AA in any of the tissues studied. 4. At a dose of 625 mg/kg, the drug produced significant increases in GSH concentration in the liver (about 34%), kidney (38%) and brain (24%). 5. AA concentrations were not significantly affected by the drug treatment in any of the organs studied. 6. However lipid peroxide formation in the liver of mice treated with oltipraz (625 mg/kg) was less than that in control animals by about 45% (P less than 0.05). 7. In other organs it was not significantly affected by the treatment. 8. Oltipraz (625 mg/kg) was given orally to mice which were pretreated with cysteine (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg for 7 days intramuscularly). 9. The cysteine pretreatments did not affect significantly the increases in GSH caused by oltipraz alone, although they were effective in significantly increasing GSH concentrations in saline-treated mice. 10. The oltipraz-induced increases in the concentrations of GSH in liver and kidney was enhanced (by about 16%) by olive oil (0.2, 02 and 0.4 ml/mouse) when given 1 h before oltipraz treatment. 11. Concentrations of LP and AA were not significantly affected by olive oil pretreatment.