The presence of glutathione in primary neuronal and astroglial cultures from rat cerebral cortex and brain stem.

The concentration of the tripeptide glutathione (GSH) was measured in primary cultures of neurons and astroglial cells from rat cerebral cortex and brain stem. The concentration of GSH was found to be approximately 20 nmol/mg protein in the neuronal culture from the cerebral cortex and ca. 40 nmol/mg protein in the neuronal brain stem cultures. A GSH concentration of approximately 20 nmol/mg was observed in the astrocyte cultures from both brain regions. The possibility to increase the GSH concentration was tested by incubating the cultures in the presence of the GSH precursor gamma-glutamylcysteine (gamma-GC). In the cultured astrocytes gamma-GC produced a dose-dependent increase in GSH. A similar increase was observed in the neuronal cultures, but this effect failed to reach statistical significance.