Abstract
Incubation of isolated rat hepatocytes with high concentration of β-lactam antibiotics, cephaloridine (CER), flomoxef (FMOX) or cephamandole (CMD), resulted in significant reduction of cellular glutathione (GSH) levels, though cell viability was not affected during the incubation period. I.v. injection of a large dose, 300 mg/kg, of these β-lactam antibiotics to rats did not affect the hepatic GSH levels. The concentration of β-lactam antibiotics in the body fluid of the rats were found to be much lower than the amounts which causes GSH depletion in vitro.
