Effects of anisotonicity on pentose-phosphate pathway, oxidized glutathione release and t-butylhydroperoxide-induced oxidative stress in the perfused liver of air-breathing catfish, Clarias batrachus.

Both hypotonic exposure (185 mOsmol/l) and infusion of glutamine plus glycine (2 mmol/l each) along with the isotonic medium caused a significant increase of 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glucose by 110 and 70%, respectively, from the basal level of 18.4 +/- 1.2 nmol/g liver/min from the perfused liver of Clarias batrachus. Conversely, hypertonic exposure (345 mOsmol/l) caused significant decrease of 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glucose by 34%. 14CO2 production from [6-14C]glucose was largely unaffected by anisotonicity. The steady-state release of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) into bile was 1.18 +/- 0.09 nmol/g liver/min, which was reduced significantly by 36% and 34%, respectively, during hypotonic exposure and amino acid-induced cell swelling, and increased by 34% during hypertonic exposure. The effects of anisotonicity on 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glucose and biliary GSSG release were also observed in the presence of t-butylhydroperoxide (50 mmol/l). The oxidative stress-induced cell injury, caused due to infusion of t-butylhydroperoxide, was measured as the amount of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage into the effluent from the perfused liver; this was found to be affected by anisotonicity. Hypotonic exposure caused significant decrease of LDH release and hypertonic exposure caused significant increase of LDH release from the perfused liver. The data suggest that hypotonically-induced as well as amino acid-induced cell swelling stimulates flux through the pentose-phosphate pathway and decreases loss of GSSG under condition of mild oxidative stress; hypotonically swollen cells are less prone to hydroperoxide-induced LDH release than hypertonically shrunken cells, thus suggesting that cell swelling may exert beneficial effects during early stages of oxidative cell injury probably due to swelling-induced alterations in hepatic metabolism.