Glutathione (GSH) is decreased in cystic fibrosis (CF) airways, thus its resupply by inhalation has been employed to restore antioxidant defense. CF airways present however increased activity of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), the enzyme specifically capable of degrading GSH, and thus inhaled GSH might be promptly catabolized. In addition, prooxidant reactions are known to originate during GGT-mediated GSH catabolism. We determined levels of GGT in the sputum samples obtained from a previously published trial of GSH inhalation treatment, and analyzed their correlations with inflammatory markers and FEV1% values. Results indicate that differentiating patients with increasing vs. decreasing GGT activity - as measured in sputum before and after the six months duration of the study - may discriminate subjects more likely profiting from inhaled GSH, as opposed to those with increasing GGT in which these treatments might even produce aggravation of the damage.
- Corti, A.
- Griese, M.
- Hector, A.
- Pompella, A.
Keywords
- Administration, Inhalation
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Antioxidants/administration & dosage/pharmacokinetics
- Biological Availability
- *Cystic Fibrosis/diagnosis/drug therapy/metabolism
- Drug Monitoring/methods
- Female
- *Glutathione/administration & dosage/pharmacokinetics
- Humans
- Male
- Prognosis
- *Sputum/drug effects/metabolism
- Treatment Outcome
- *gamma-Glutamyltransferase/analysis/metabolism
- Cystic fibrosis
- Gamma-glutamyltransferase
- Glutathione
- Inflammation
