Glutathione “Redox Homeostasis” and Its Relation to Cardiovascular Disease

Table 1

Evidence from animal studies.

Model	Species	Treatment	Effects	Ref
ApoE^−/−	Mice	Liposomal coated GSH 50 mg/kg/day for 2 months	Reduction of AAPH oxidation and lipid peroxides and oxidation of LDL	[83]
ApoE^−/−	Mice	OTC 500 mg/kg/day for 6 weeks	Increased level of GSH, reduction of cellular OS, and oxidation of LDL	[87]
ApoE^−/−	Mice		GSH is depleted in the atheroma-prone aortic arch	[86]
ApoE^−/−/GCLM^−/−	Mice		Reduced level of GSH; atherogenesis	[90]
High saturated fat diet	Mice	N-Acetyl cysteine, oral for 4 weeks	Increased level of GSH; reduced cholesterol level in plasma and the liver	[84]
Transgenic human lipoprotein(a)	Mice	Ribose-cysteine 0.16 g/kg/day for 8 weeks	Increased level of GSH and GPx activity; antiatherogenic effect	[91]
Endothelial cells	Rat	Pretreatment with H2O2 24 h and Zn supplementation	Increased expression of GCS and synthesis of GSH	[106]
Macrophage cells	Murine	Homocysteine 50 μM	Reduced level of GSH; increased OS and GCS activity	[105]
Alloxan-induced hyperglycemia	Rabbit		Different GSH redox cycles in different tissues (heart, brain, and liver)	[88]
Alloxan-induced hyperglycemia	Rabbit	Pioglitazone	Increased GSH system parameters	[89]

AAPH: 2,2-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride; ApoE^−/−: apolipoprotein E-deficient mice; ApoE^−/−/GCLM^−/−: mice doubly deficient in apolipoprotein E and γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase; BSO: buthionine sulfoximine; DEM: diethyl maleate; GCS: γ-glutamyl cysteine synthetase; GSH: glutathione; GPx: glutathione peroxidase; H₂O₂: hydrogen peroxide; OS: oxidative stress; OTC: L-2-oxo-4-thiazolidin carboxylate (which supplies cysteine residues); Zn: zinc (in form ZnSO₄).