Changes of glutathione and protein bound SH-groups concentration in rat adrenals under acute and repeated stress.

The changes in the level of sulfhydryl fractions in total adrenals were measured with the aid of Ellman's reagent [Sedlák and Lindsay 1968] in rats exposed either to stress by forced immobilization or by the injury in Noble-Collip drum. It was found that nonprotein sulfhydryl fraction (NP-SH) in rat adrenals is represented exclusively by SH-glutathione (GSH). Moreover, the increase of the concentration of GSH in adrenals was related to the time and number of exposures to stressor. The maximum enhancement of GSH in adrenals occurred when the animals were subjected to stress daily for 7 days. It is suggested that GSH may be involved in the steroidogenesis in the inhibition of nonenzymatic decarboxylation of DOPA and in the proteosynthesis in adrenals.