Glutathione conjugation with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB): interindividual variability in human liver, lung, kidney and intestine.

The rate of glutathione conjugation with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) was measured in specimens of human liver (n = 93), sigmoid colon (n = 56), renal cortex (n = 67) and lung (n = 68). In the liver there was a weak but significant (r = - 0.247 p = 0.017) negative correlation between the activity of glutathione transferase and the liver donor's age. Such a correlation was not found in the renal cortex, lung and colon. In the renal cortex and in lung the rate of glutathione conjugation with CDNB was a little but significantly (p < 0.05) higher in women than men, whereas no sex-dependent difference was observed in the liver and colon. The distribution of glutathione transferase activity was polymorphic in the mucosa of colon and renal cortex of men but not in that of women. Smoking seems not to affect the glutathione conjugation rate with CDNB in lung. The activity of glutathione transferase was 2-, 6-, and 7-fold greater in liver than in the renal cortex, lung and colon, respectively. There was a large interindividual variability of the hepatic glutathione transferase activity, and because this variability, 15% of the population studied catalyzed the glutathione conjugation with CDNB at a rate similar to those of the renal cortex and duodenum. The subjects with low expression of the hepatic glutathione transferase should be more exposed to the effects of toxic and carcinogenic compounds.