ORIGINAL ARTICLE Blood glutathione status and activity of glutathione-metabolizing antioxidant enzymes in erythrocytes of young trotters in basic training M. Janiak, M. Suska, W. Dudzin ´ ska and E. Skotnicka Department of Physiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland Introduction In recent years, considerable amount of research has been carried out to evaluate the activity of equine antioxidant systems during exercise (Mills et al., 1996; de Moffarts et al., 2005a; Al-Qudah and Al-Majali, 2006) and training (Avellini et al., 1995; de Moffarts et al., 2004). Changes in the antioxidant Keywords antioxidative enzymes, blood, erythrocyte, exercise, glutathione, horse, training Correspondence Mariola Janiak, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Szczecin, Piasto ´ w Av 40B, 70-065 Szczecin, Poland. Tel: +48 888 326 552; Fax: +4891 444 27 34; E-mail: janiak.m@gmail.com Received: 14 February 2008; accepted: 29 September 2008 First published online: 31 March 2009 Summary The aim of this study was to evaluate response of blood glutathione sta- tus and activity of glutathione-metabolizing antioxidant enzymes in ery- throcytes of young trotters in basic training. Nine untrained trotters (aged 16–20 months) were exposed to a 4-month training program based on exercises at low-to-moderate intensity. The conditioning consisted of breaking the horses and running them on distances varying from 4 to 40 km a week. The workloads were increased on a 3-week basis. Exercise intensity was monitored by measuring heart rate and blood lactate. Blood samples were collected at rest, before (RES0) and after (RESt) the conditioning period; moreover, on the latter occasion (on day 112 of training), the blood was also taken immediately after the routine exercise (EXE0) and 60 min thereafter (EXE60). The whole blood samples were analysed for the concentration of reduced, oxidized and total glutathione (GSH, GSSG and TGSH, respectively), while the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione-disulfide reductase (GR) were deter- mined in haemolysates. Additionally, the erythrocytic concentrations of oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD + ) and its phosphate (NADP + ) were measured. All investigated parameters except NAD + and reduced/oxidized glutathione ratio (GSH/GSSG) changed during the training period. Following the effortm GPX, NADP + and GSH/GSSG were significantly lower (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.001, respectively) while GSSG was markedly higher than at rest (RESt). The drop in NADP + , low GSH/GSSG and high GSSG concentration were sustained at EXE60. Glutathione-disulfide reductase activity was higher after the workout but only at EXE60 the increase in activity was significant. Despite the activi- ties of the GSH-GSSG cycle, enzymes were considerably higher after the training period, the elevated concentration of GSSG and significantly lower GSH/GSSG ratio in the post-exercise measurements suggest that production of reactive oxygen species possibly exceeds the capacity of antioxidative defenses of immature trotters. A more balanced diet with additional antioxidant supplementation and a revision of the basic train- ing protocol used herein are advised. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0396.2008.00889.x Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 94 (2010) 137–145 ª 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2009 Blackwell Verlag GmbH 137