Manipulation of mouse organ glutathione contents I: Enhancement by oral administration of butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene.

Administration of either butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) or butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) (1000 mg/kg/day for 5 days) to male mice increased the content of reduced glutathione by 50-100% in liver, lung, duodenum and intestine. In colon, glandular stomach, spleen and kidney no effect on glutathione level was observed. BHA and BHT led also to 100-1000% induction of glutathione transferases in liver, lung (only BHA), kidney and digestive tract (except the colon); the relative increase in transferase activity was greater with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DCNB) as a substrate than with CDNB in all organs investigated. The effects of BHA, administered in olive oil by gavage, on different parts of the gastrointestinal tract revealed maximum increase of the glutathione content and transferase activities in the duodenum, smaller increase of these parameters in the upper intestine and no significant effects in the lower intestine and the colon. Starving mice for 1 day decreased the glutathione content of the liver by 50% to 21.3 +/- 4.5 nmol/mg protein in controls and to 39.4 +/- 3.3 in BHA-treated animals. Intravenous injection of 0.5 mmol GSH/kg restored the fed state (C: 37.4 +/- 2.8 nmol GSH/mg protein; BHA: 84.9 +/- 7.7) within 2 h. This indicates a much faster de novo synthesis of liver glutathione in BHA-pretreated animals. The mechanistic aspects of phenolic antioxidant effects on GSH metabolism are discussed.