THE NON-ENZYMATIC COMPONENT OF THE GLUTATHIONE SYSTEM IN RAT LIVER CELLS UNDER CONDITIONS OF ACETAMINOPHEN TOXICITY FOLLOWING PREVENTIVE ADMINISTRATION OF AN ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF HERICIUM FLAGELLUM FRUITING BODIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31861/biosystems2026.01.012Keywords:
glutathione, cytosol, mitochondria, acetaminophen, toxic damage, ethanol extract of H. flagellumAbstract
Acetaminophen is one of the most widely used analgesic and antipyretic drugs; however, its overdose leads to toxic liver injury. Oxidative stress and depletion of the glutathione system play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity, resulting in disruption of cellular redox homeostasis and mitochondrial damage. Therefore, the search for natural sources of antioxidants capable of mitigating the toxic effects of acetaminophen remains highly relevant. Our scientific interest was drawn to Hericium flagellum, a fungal species distributed in the Pokuttya-Bukovyna Carpathian region. This article presents the results of a study on the non-enzymatic component of the glutathione system in the cytosol and mitochondria of rat liver cells under conditions of acetaminophen-induced toxic injury following the preventive administration of an ethanolic extract of Hericium flagellum fruiting bodies. The experimental animals were divided into four groups: C – control rats; EHf – rats administered an ethanolic extract of Hericium flagellum fruiting bodies orally for 10 days; AII – rats with experimentally induced acute liver injury; and EHf+AII – rats that administered the Hericium flagellum extract for 10 days prior to the induction of acute toxic injury. Cytosolic and mitochondrial fractions were isolated from rat liver tissue homogenates by differential centrifugation. The concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) was determined in deproteinized samples using Ellman’s reagent. Oxidized glutathione (GSSG) was reduced to GSH using zinc dust. The sum of zinc-reduced glutathione disulfide and reduced glutathione was considered total glutathione (GSH + GSSG). The amount of glutathione disulfide was calculated as the difference between total glutathione and reduced glutathione in the sample. The optical density of the samples was measured spectrophotometrically at a wavelength of 412 nm. Acetaminophen overdose was found to induce an imbalance between glutathione forms in liver cells, accompanied by a 2.6-fold decrease in the glutathione redox ratio index in the cytosol and a 4-fold decrease in the mitochondrial fraction. In contrast, preventive administration of the ethanolic extract of Hericium flagellum fruiting bodies tended to restore redox balance in the investigated compartments of liver cells, as evidenced by a twofold increase in the glutathione redox ratio index compared with the group of animals with toxic injury. The obtained results indicate the promising potential of the ethanolic extract of Hericium flagellum as a natural source of biologically active compounds.
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