The interaction of ethanol and zinc on hepatic glutathione and glutathione transferase activity in mice.

The effects of ethanol and/or zinc sulphate on liver glutathione and glutathione transferase activity were studied in mice. Ethanol suppressed glutathione transferase activity and had no significant effect on glutathione levels in the organ. Zinc sulphate administration dose-dependently increased glutathione transferase activity but did not affect hepatic glutathione content. Furthermore, the depressive action of ethanol on glutathione transferase activity was prevented by zinc sulphate pretreatment. It is suggested that zinc sulphate can reactivate glutathione transferase which in turn increases the excretion of the active metabolites produced by ethanol, through conjugation with glutathione in the liver. This action of zinc may alleviate the hepatic toxicity of ethanol in mice.