A study of the intracellular effects of glutathione by 1H-spin echo NMR of intact human erythrocytes

The effect of adding either reduced (GSH) or oxidized (GSSG) glutathione to intact human erythrocytes was investigated by 1H-spin echo NMR, which allows direct observation of relatively concentrated low molecular weight compounds within intact cells. A specific region of the spectrum was affected by addition of GSH, with the appearance of new peaks that were diagnostic of an increase of intracellular GSH. These changes did not occur in hemolysates, and did not involve extra-cytosol GSH either free or membrane-bound. These results indicate that the intracellular redox balance of glutathione is shifted toward the reduced state by exogenous glutathione, possibly via a signal transferring system of the cell membrane.