Glutathione

The 1958 symposium of the Biochemical Society consists of seven papers given by British biochemists on areas of glutathione (GSH) chemistry and biochemistry. The topics presented may be listed briefly: chemistry of GSH, techniques for determining GSH, oxidation-reduction systems associated with GSH in plant tissues, GSH in animal tissues, and neural tissues, and in lens, and finally the effect of thiols in radiation damage. On the whole, it may be stated that the topics are covered concisely and critically. The earlier book Glutathione, published in 1953, is much more valuable due to greater coverage and open discussions which are not part of this later book. Much of the material presented in the earlier book is inevitably repeated since the progress in fields relating to the chemistry and role of glutathione has not been extensive. Unique contributions of this volume lie in the chapter by Mapson in which the work bearing on the question of the role of GSH oxidation-reduction in terminal electron transport in plants is covered and evaluated and in the chapter by Waley in which the occurrence and role of GSH and its analogues in the eye lens are considered. Since conjecture on the role of GSH in natural systems has emphasized the -SH group, it is of particular interest to note that opthalmic acid (o'-glutamyl-a-amino-n-butyrylglycine) is as effective as GSH in triggering the "feeding reaction" of hydra.