Effects of disulfiram, diethyldithiocarbamate, bisethylxanthogen, and benzyl isothiocyanate on glutathione transferase activities in mouse organs.

Four sulfur compounds known to inhibit tumorigenic effects of chemical carcinogens were administered to female CD-1 mice at 0.5% of the diet for 14 days, and their effects on cytosolic glutathione transferase (EC 2.5.1.18) specific activities were examined in liver, lung, kidney, urinary bladder, forestomach, proximal small intestine, and colon. Disulfiram, sodium diethyldithiocarbamate, bisethylxanthogen, and benzyl isothiocyanate elevated glutathione transferase specific activities in most of the organs examined. The four sulfur compounds differed in the extents and organ specificities of their effects on these enzyme activities. In the liver, bisethylxanthogen and benzyl isothiocyanate increased glutathione transferase activities to at least 3 times control levels and caused differential increases in the isozyme patterns observed after isoelectric focusing of the cytosols. Bisethylxanthogen also increased immunoreactive glutathione transferase in liver cytosol. Recrystallized disulfiram was less effective in enhancing hepatic glutathione transferase activities than was commercial (97%) disulfiram. Among the six extrahepatic organs examined, the small intestine and the forestomach exhibited the greatest response of glutathione transferase activities to each of the four sulfur compounds. Benzyl isothiocyanate was most effective in these "portal of entry" organs but less effective than bisethylxanthogen in the other extrahepatic organs examined. Bisethylxanthogen elicited significant increases in glutathione transferase activities in liver, lung, and small intestine even when administered at 0.01% to 0.05% of the diet, suggesting that this compound may have considerable potential as an inhibitor of carcinogens susceptible to enzymatic conjugation with glutathione.