The Effect of Glutathione Supplementation on Proline Levels and Skin Collagen Tissue Thickness in Cigarette Smoke - Induced Mice

Introduction: Smoking is known to be associated with various diseases. Cigarette smoke contains almost 7000 dangerous chemicals and cigarette smoke is toxic and triggers the formation of free radicals. These free radicals are also known to damage cell structures, including the structure of amino acids such as proline. Cigarette smoke is also known to reduce collagen production and also damage collagen through the inflammatory process. There has been no previous research regarding the administration of glutathione to observe proline levels and collagen thickness in mice induced by cigarette smoke.Objective: To determine the effect of administering glutathione to mice treated with cigarette smoke on skin proline and collagen levels.Methods: This research used male Rattus norvegicus mice which were given four treatments, namely control and glutathione groups which were divided into 3 doses (150 mg, 200 mg, 250 mg). Each group received exposure to cigarette smoke for 14 days. Examination of proline levels uses ELISA with a proline kit, while examination of collagen thickness uses histology examination. The analysis test uses the ANOVA test followed by the Post Hock Least Significant Difference (LSD) test.Results: From the results of the analysis it was found that administration of glutathione at a dose of 250 mg was significantly better in increasing proline levels compared to the other two glutathione supplementation groups, namely 150 mg and 200 mg (p = 0.001 and p = 0.018, respectively) and control (p = 0.007). However, there was no significant increase in proline levels in the two glutathione groups (150 mg and 200 mg) when compared to controls. In terms of collagen thickening, all doses of glutathione supplementation and increasingly higher doses had better collagen tissue thickness than controls (p = 0.000).Conclusion: Glutathione supplementation improves proline levels and collagen tissue thickness