Blood and Liver Glutathione During Protein Deprivation.

A protein-free diet reduced liver glutathione in rats to about 40% of its normal value within 1 to 2 days, but did not deplete blood glutathione. The labile 60% of the liver glutathione was lost completely before the liver xanthine oxidase was reduced more than 50%; the residual 40% of the liver glutathione was then retained while the remainder of the xanthine oxidase was lost. 85-90% of the glutathione in rat liver was present in the soluble supernatant fraction obtained by centrifuging an homogenate at 30000 x g.