AMELIORATIVE CAPACITIES OF VITAMINS AND MONOTHIOLS POST THERAPY IN THE RESTORATION OF METHYLMERCURY ALTERED GLUTATHIONE METABOLISM

The recovery of glutathione and its metabolising enzymes (glutathione disulfide reductase, glutathione peroxidase, thiol transferase, gamma- glutamyl transpeptidase and glutathione transferase) along with sulfhy dryl groups and byproduct of lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde) in t he brain, spinal cord, kidney and liver of mice, altered during methyl mercury chloride (MMC) intoxication, is recorded in post-therapeutic t reatment with vitamins and monothiols. For this purpose ten groups of animals were intoxicated with 1 mg/kg MMC/day for 7 days.'Out of these , one group was sacrificed on 8th day and one group was kept without t oxicant for another seven days before sacrificing on 15th day. Study s hows significant decrease of various biomolecules of glutathione metab olism during MMC application, which are further decreased with increas ing the duration on 15th day. The trend is same in all the tissues wit h few exceptions. However, malondialdehyde, a byproduct of lipid perox idation, is increased with increasing the duration after intoxication. Study also shows a significant recovery (in many cases a complete con trol level) of most of the components with one or the other chelator o r with their combined therapy. Therefore, it is concluded from overall study that vitamins B complex and E, GSH (or its precursor NAHT) eith er alone or in combinations, are quite suitable for methylmercury post -therapy.