Glutathione's antioxidant effects and its ability to shield mice's hepatocytes from damage caused by furan

Furan is commonly found in several kinds of heat-treated foods, the existence of furan in food causes public health issues. The current research examines the preventive impact of glutathione on liver, kidney function, and tumor markers against furan-induced injury in mice. Male albino mice were divided into seven groups: a control (G1), G2 (0.5mg furan/kg b.w./day), G3 (1 mg furan/kg b.w./day), G4 (2 mg furan/kg b.w./day), G5 (4 mg furan/kg b.w./day), G6 (2 mg furan/kg b.w./day +500 mg glutathione/kg/day), and G7 (4 mg furan/kg b.w./day +500 mg glutathione/kg/day). At the end of the study, after 8 weeks, the anesthetized and sacrificed were done, and then the different tests were conducted. Results: Furan significantly increased hepatocyte damage in mice, as evidenced by increased activities of aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) after a 2mg/kg/day dose. Furan promoted oxidative stress due to elevated malondialdehyde levels, occurring at various furan dosages (0.5, 1, 2, and 4mg/kg/day). The study found that pretreatment with glutathione at 500 mg/kg/day reduced AST, ALT, and MDA activities in mice, while furan levels did not negatively impact kidney functions. It should be noted that all levels of furan increased tumor markers [Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP)] compared to the control (3.1 ng/ml), whereas glutathione reduced the level of AFP in groups taking furan at (2 and 4 mg/kg) to range (3.5–3.6 mg/ml) compared to (4.6–4.8 mg/ml) for the same groups taking furan at (2 and 4 mg/kg) without glutathione. Glutathione's protective effects against furan-induced hepatocyte damage may be due to its exceptional capacity to scavenge free radicals. Glutathione, with its strong antioxidant properties, has the potential to be a promising therapeutic and preventive agent for diseases induced by furan compounds.