Fluorometric Determination of Glutathione by N-(9-Acridinyl)-maleimide and Its Application to Biological Materials

Abstract

A fluorescent reagent, N-(9-acridinyl)maleimide, was studied for its application to the determination of GSH and the total thiol content (crude GSH) in mammalian tissues. The fluorescence was reproducible and stable at pH 8.8. The fluorescence intensity was linear in the range of the GSH concentration from 0.001 nmole/ml to 100 nmole/ml. The total thiol content of the mammalian tissue determined by this method agreed well with that ob-tained by the DTNB colorimetric method. The sensitivity of the present method was more than fifty times higher than the DTNB method; determination with 0.03_??_15mg of tissue was adequate.