Diurnal Variation in Mouse and Rat Liver Sulfhydryl.

Abstract
Untreated, sham operated and adrenalectomized Carworth Farms Webster male mice, and Wistar strain female rats, all exhibited appreciable and statistically significant diurnal variations in liver non-protein sulfhydryl (NPSH) as estimated by the nitroprusside method of Grunert and Phillips (Arch. Biochem. 30, 217). Diurnal variations in glutathione (GSH), as estimated by the alloxan method of Lazarow (Glutathione 1954 Academic Press, Inc.) were sufficient to account for the NPSH variations. High NPSH and GSH values came at 8 a.m. or 12 noon, low at 8 p.m. It is postulated for mice and rats, that in association with a dietary pattern of greater food intake during the night than during the day, the store of glutathione in the liver is increased during the night and decreased during the day.