Glutathione status of rat thymocytes and splenocytes during the early events of their ConA proliferative responses

Glutathione plays an important role in the lymphocyte mitogenic response. We have demonstrated that 2-ME increases the ConA proliferative response of rat splenocytes and in parallel, causes an enhancement of glutathione synthesis in these cells. On the other hand, 2-ME had the same action on the glutathione level of thymocytes during the late phase of their mitogenic response, but it had no effect on the [3H]thymidine uptake of these cells. To clarify this discrepancy and the role of glutathione during the mitogenic response, we studied the glutathione status of thymus cells during the early phase of the ConA-induced proliferative response in the presence or the absence of 2-ME in parallel with that of whole spleen cells and the T cell fraction of splenocytes. During the early events of the mitogenic response, i.e., during the 24th h, we observed a normal 2 GSSG/GSH + 2 GSSG ratio in cultured cells, indicating a normal redox state, and that ConA involved an increased glutathione level in thymocytes but not in whole splenocytes and in splenic T cells. 2-ME had no effect on the glutathione level of stimulated thymocytes during the early phase of the mitogenic response. This phenomenon could be related to an absence of its effect on [3H]thymidine uptake. On the other hand, 2-ME induced an enhancement of the glutathione level and [3H]thymidine uptake in the two types of stimulated splenocytes. This study suggest that thymocytes do not have the same mechanism of glutathione synthesis induction as that which occurs in splenocytes during the ConA proliferative response. This mechanism could be related to the maturation state of the T cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)