ABSTRACT
Glutathione is considered to represent the primary soluble intracellular low molecular weight compound providing a continuously maintained integrity of structures essential for living cells. Nature has developed a sophisticated enzymatic machinery for utilizing the chemical properties of this simple tripeptide in many different ways in addition to the spontaneous chemical reactions of glutathione (GSH) with reactive and hence potentially harmful endogenous or exogenous compounds. If we neglect the enzymology of the glutamyl moiety in this context, the enzymatic defense system encompasses the glutathione peroxidases, the glutathione transferases, and various ancillary enzymes involved in the synthesis or regeneration of substrates or cofactors.
