Determination of glutathione, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase levels in human lung cancer tissues.

This study was performed to elucidate the lung glutathione-related defense potential in tumoral tissues. Reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione, glutathione reductase (GR), selenium-dependent (SeGPx) and total glutathione peroxidase (tGPx), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities in 38 tumoral lung tissues and 17 normal lung tissues were determined to obtain a comprehensive profile of the lung glutathione and glutathione-related enzymes in cancer. The enzyme levels in tumoral tissues (n = 38) were found to be significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those in normal tissues (n = 17). Reduced glutathione levels, and not oxidized glutathione levels, were found to be higher in normal tissues than those in tumoral tissues. We found no statistically significant difference between the adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma groups for any of the parameters studied.