Effect of exogenous glutathione on distribution and morphous of arsenic in mice exposed to arsenite through drinking water

Objective To explore the effect of exogenous glutathione(GSH)on the distribution and the morphous of arsenic in various organs or tissues of mice exposed to arsenite through drinking water.Methods Mice were randomly divided into five groups,which were control group,arsenic exposure group,low dose GSH group,medium dose GSH group,and high dose GSH group,eight mice in each group.Mice in the experimental groups were exposed to sodium arsenite through drinking water contaminated with 50 mg/L arsenic for four consecutive weeks.At the fourth week,simultaneously with the arsenic exposure,200 mg/kg,400 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg GSH were intraperitoneally injected to the mice in group 3,4,5 respectively.Twenty-four hours after the cessation of GSH administration,mice were anaesthetized and rapidly killed,taking the samples of blood,liver and immediately for the detection of inorganic arsenic(iAs),monomethyl arsine(MMA)and dimethyl arsine(DMA)with HG-AAS method.Results It was showed that the contents of iAs and MMA in liver and blood,as well as the total contents of arsenic(TAs)in blood and brain of GSH treated mice were all significantly lower than those of As exposed mice.Additionally,the primary methylation ratio(PMR)and the secondary methylation ratio(SMR)both in liver and blood were higher than those of As exposed mice;the differences of PMR and SMR in liver,and SMR in blood between high dose GSH treated mice and As-exposed mice were quite significant.Conclusions The results suggested that the exogenous GSH might promote the methylation of inorganic arsenic in liver,increase the excretion of arsenide from living body,thereby decrease the content of arsenide in blood and its deposition in brain.