Peter E. Thelwall1,
2, John Skamarauskas1, 2, Daniel Vidler, 23,
Michael Dunn, 23, Fiona Oakley2, Michael P. Gamcsik4
1Newcastle
Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne
and Wear, United Kingdom; 2Institute of Cellular Medicine,
Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom; 3Medical
Toxicology Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear,
United Kingdom; 4Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering,
University of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, United States
Glutathione is an endogenous antioxidant that forms a component of cellular defences against oxidative stress. Oxidative stress plays a key role in the progression of liver disease. We postulated that in vivo measurements of glutathione synthesis rate and concentration could provide a non-invasive biomarker of hepatic oxidative stress defences sensitive to the progression of liver disease. We employed MR spectroscopy to measure the metabolic incorporation of infused 13C-labelled glycine into glutathione into acute and chronic models of liver oxidative stress. Concentration of labelled glutathione was higher in the acute model, and lower in chronic models, compared to controls.
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