Effect of glutathione depletion on exocyclic adduct levels in the liver DNA of F344 rats

The effects of glutathione (GSH) depletion on the in vivo formation of cyclic 1,N-2-propanodexoxyguanosine adducts (AdG and CdG) as background lesions in the liver DNA of F344 rats were investigated. A group of 5 male F344 rats were given drinking water containing 30 mM L-buthionine (S,R)-sulfoximine (BSO) for 21 days, and another group of 8 rats were given only drinking water as controls. The BSO-treated rats had significantly lower weight gain than control rats. The hepatic GSH levels in the BSO-treated group were reduced by 84% as compared with the control group, from 4.43 to 0.72 mu mol/g of tissue. The isomeric AdG3, CdG1, and CdG2 were detected by the P-32-postlabeling/HPLC method in the liver DNA of rats without carcinogen treatment, as we reported previously [Nath, R. G., and Chung, F. L. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91, 7491-7495. Nath, R. CT., et al. (1996) Cancer Res. 56, 452-456]. The mean levels (mu mol/mol of guanine) for AdG3, CdG1, and CdG2 were 0.57 +/- 0.25, 0.15 +/- 0.18, and 0.16 +/- 0.22 for the control group and 1.18 +/- 1.03, 3.16 +/- 3.26, and 2.50 +/- 2.59 for the BSO group, respectively. These increases correspond to approximately 2-fold for AdG and 15-21-fold for CdG adducts. The dramatic increase in the cyclic adduct levels in rat liver DNA could have resulted mainly from GSH depletion as a result of the BSO treatment, even though other unknown effects due to the toxicity of BSO cannot be ruled out. These results suggest that GSH plays an important role in protecting the liver against cyclic propane DNA adduction and provide further support for the endogenous origin of these adducts.