Comparative Evaluation of the Effects of Taurine and Thiotaurine on Alterations of the Cellular Redox Status and Activities of Antioxidant and Glutathione-Related Enzymes by Acetaminophen in the Rat - Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology - page 198

1.4 1.4

Liver
Plasma

1.2 1.2

1 1.0

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0.0

Control NAC TAU TTAU APAP NAC +

APAP

TAU +
APAP

TTAU +
APAP

Fig. 20.10 The effects of NAC, TAU, and TTAU on the activities of liver and plasma GST of rats
treated with a hepatotoxic (800 mg/kg i.p.) dose of APAP. Differences were significant from con-
trol at ** p < 0.01 and *** p < 0.001 and from APAP at ††† p < 0.001. Values are shown as mean ± SEM
for n = 6

with TAU, TTAU, or INS compared to controls. These results contrast with
those reported by Polaniak et al. ( 2011 ) in rats chronically treated with a daily
2.4 g/kg intraesophageal dose of APAP for periods up to 12 weeks and who
found the activities of GST and GR to be elevated while that of GPx was
decreased. The existence of a wide variability in the type of effect exerted by
APAP on GSH-related enzymes is exemplified by the results of two studies con-
ducted in rodents. In one study conducted in rats, treatment with a single 300 mg/
kg dose of APAP lowered the activities of GPx, GR, and GST to below control
values; in the other, the treatment of mice with a single 90-150 mg/kg dose of
APAP enhanced the activity of GST in the serum but had the opposite effect on
that associated with liver microsomes and homogenate (Wang and Peng 1993 ) .

20.4 Conclusion

In short, this work has verified that the protective actions of the TAU molecule are
maintained upon its conversion to the thiosulfonate analog TTAU. Even though the
pattern of protective actions derived from these 2-aminoethane derivatives is identi-
cal and comparable to that expressed by NAC, TTAU appears to be more potent
than TAU in terms of preserving the glutathione redox status of the cell. From the