Hyperglycemia in diabetic rats reduces the glutathione content in the aortic tissue

The glutathione redox cycle plays a major role in scavenging hydrogen peroxide (H 2O 2) under physiological conditions. Recently, we demonstrated that a high glucose concentration in the culture medium reduced the level of H 2O 2 scavenging activity of human vascular smooth muscle cells (hVSMCs). We...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Life sciences (1973) 2001-07, Vol.69 (9), p.1039-1047
Main Authors: Tachi, Yoichi, Okuda, Yukichi, Bannai, Chieko, Bannai, Shiro, Shinohara, Mitsuko, Shimpuku, Hitomi, Yamashita, Kamejiro, Ohura, Kiyoshi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aorta, Thoracic - metabolism
Aortic tissue
Blood Glucose - analysis
Body Weight - drug effects
Diabetes
Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental - drug therapy
Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental - metabolism
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - metabolism
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - metabolism
Glutathione
Glutathione - metabolism
Hyperglycemia - metabolism
Insulin - therapeutic use
Male
Rats
Rats, Inbred OLETF
Rats, Wistar
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The glutathione redox cycle plays a major role in scavenging hydrogen peroxide (H 2O 2) under physiological conditions. Recently, we demonstrated that a high glucose concentration in the culture medium reduced the level of H 2O 2 scavenging activity of human vascular smooth muscle cells (hVSMCs). We also showed that a high glucose concentration reduced the intracellular glutathione (GSH) content and the rate of uptake of cystine, which itself is a rate-limiting factor that maintains the GSH level (FEBS Lett.421: 19–22,1998). In the present study, we investigated whether the hyperglycemic condition in diabetic rats impairs the glutathione content in the aortic tissue in vivo. Wistar rats were divided into the following three groups: streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (STZ-D, n=7), insulin-treated STZ-D rats (I-STZ-D, n=8), and non-diabetic controls (C, n=7). Fourteen days after streptozotocin injection, the aortic tissue was extracted and the GSH content in the aortic tissue was measured. Furthermore, the relationship between the GSH content in the aortic tissue and blood glucose level in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats aged 30 weeks, which developed diabetes spontaneously, was investigated. The GSH content in the aortic tissue of the STZ-D group (0.99±0.14 nmol/mg protein) was significantly lower than that of the control group (1.68±0.15 nmol/mg protein). Insulin treatment to the diabetic rats restored the GSH content in the aortic tissue (I-STZ-D group; 1.45±0.11 nmol/mg protein). Among the 22 Wistar rats, the GSH content in the aortic tissue was negatively correlated with the blood glucose level (r = − 0.69, p
ISSN:0024-3205
1879-0631
DOI:10.1016/S0024-3205(01)01183-3