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The present study was attempted to investigate the mechanism of oxidative cellular injuries which occur in diabetic rats by determining changes of antioxidant enzymes activity in the lung of alloxan-induced diabetic rats, the contents of glutathione in the lung, liver, blood samples, and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase activities in the liver. Superoxide dismutase activities (SOD), including Cu, Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD, decreased in the lung of diabetic rats compared with those of normal control rats. However, activities of catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities were not affected in the lung of diabetic rats. In diabetic rats, glutathione contents in the lung, liver, and blood samples, as well as the activities of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase in the livers which is known to be the key enzyme of glutathione biosynthesis, decreased significantly. From these experimental results, it is thought that the decrease in SOD activities in the lung, glutathione contents and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase activities in some tissues in alloxan-induced diabetic rats may be the crucial cause of vulnerability to oxidative cellular injuries.
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