Evidence for accelerated rates of glutathione utilization and glutathione depletion in adolescents with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes.

Depletion of glutathione, an important antioxidant present in red cells, has been reported in type 1 diabetes, but the mechanism of this depletion has not been fully characterized. Glutathione depletion can occur through decreased synthesis, increased utilization, or a combination of both. To address this issue, 5-h infusions of l-[3,3-(2)H(2)]cysteine were performed in 16 diabetic adolescents divided into a well-controlled and a poorly controlled group and in eight healthy nondiabetic teenagers as control subjects (HbA(1c) 6.