Cadmium acetate (Cd2+, 0.4 mg/kg) administration to growing rats (45± 5 g), intraperitoneally, daily for 30 days was found to decrease the reduced glutathione (GSH) and increase oxidized glutathione (GSSG) concentrations in liver, kidney and testis. These alterations resulted into a significant decline in GSH/ GSSG ratio in all the three tissues. The observed higher magnitude of changes in testicular tissue are of significance as testis has been reported to be a highly sensitive organ towards

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... exposure. The GSH/GSSG ratio is particularly important for testis, which has a high mitotic index, in view of GSH involvement in the DNA, RNA and protein synthesis. A simultaneous inhibition in the activities of glutathione reductase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in these tissues may be responsible for an altered GSH/GSSG ratio as these enzymes take part in GSSG to GSH conversion. The data show that Cd2+ alters glutathione metabolism in various organs which may play a significant role in the mechanism of Cd toxicity.