Purpose To study mainly the absorption of glutathione (GSH) after administered by gavage. Methods 5 Beagle dogs were administered GSH and the component amino acids by gavage and iv,respectively.The concentrations of glutathione,glutamate (Glu),cystein (Cys) and glycin (Gly) in plasma were determined by HPLC with a variable wavelength fluorometric detector. Results In un anaesthetic Beagle dogs,a significant increase of GSH and Gly was observed when single dose of GSH was administered by gavage (3.89,1.62 mmol/kg) for 1 day or (0.49 mmol/kg) for 5 days,10 days( P <0.05-0.01).The level of GSH in plasma remained unchanged after giving (by gavage) a mixture of Glu( 1.62 mmol/kg),Cys(1.62 mmol/kg) and Gly(1.62 mmol/kg) although all of them were increased significantly ( P <0.01).During 1-6 h,the content of GSH in plasma in the mesentery vein was higher than that in the forelimb vein after giving single dose of GSH 1.62 mmol/kg ( P <0.05-0.01) in anaesthetic Beagle dogs.The GSH concentrationtime curve in the plasma after iv GSH 0.065 mmol/kg presented bi peak,in which a small peak was observed after the level of GSH decreasing rapidly to physiological basic value.The K el 1 and T 1/2α of the rapid elimination were 8.04 h -1 and 0.09 h,respectively. Results In un anaesthetic Beagle dogs,a significant increase of GSH and Gly was observed when single dose of GSH was administered by gavage (3.
89,1.62 mmol/kg) for 1 day or (0.49 mmol/kg) for 5 days,10 days( P <0.05-0.01).The level of GSH in plasma remained unchanged after giving (by gavage) a mixture of Glu( 1.62 mmol/kg),Cys(1.62 mmol/kg) and Gly(1.62 mmol/kg) although all of them were increased significantly ( P <0.01).During 1-6 h,the content of GSH in plasma in the mesentery vein was higher than that in the forelimb vein after giving single dose of GSH 1.62 mmol/kg ( P <0.05-0.01) in anaesthetic Beagle dogs.The GSH concentrationtime curve in the plasma after iv GSH 0.065 mmol/kg presented bi peak,in which a small peak was observed after the level of GSH decreasing rapidly to physiological basic value.The K el 1 and T 1/2α of the rapid elimination were 8.04 h -1 and 0.09 h,respectively. Conclusions The results indicate that GSH can be partly absorbed as intact molecular administered by gavage,and content of GSH in plasma in system vein lower than that in the mesentery vein may be due to GSH uptake by liver.