Summary Glutathione functions to scavenge oxidants or xenobiotics by covalently binding them and transporting the resulting metabolites through an adenosine 5'-triphosphate-dependent transport system. It has been reported that the intracellular concentration of glutathione decreases in diabetes mellitus. In order to elucidate the physiological significance and the regulation of anti-oxidants in diabetic patients, changes in the activity of the glutathionesynthesizing enzyme, ),-glutamylcysteine synthetase, and transport of thiol [S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)glutathione] were studied in erythrocytes from patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes and K562 cells cultured with 27 mmol/1 glucose for 7 days. The activity of ~,-glutamylcysteine synthetase, the concentration of glutathione, and the thiol transport were 77 %, 77 % and 69 %, respectively in erythrocytes from diabetic patients compared to normal control subjects. Treatment of patients with an antidiabetic agent for 6 months resulted in the restoration of Vglutamylcysteine synthetase activity, the concentration of glutathione, and the thiol transport. A similar impairment of glutathione metabolism was observed in K562 cells with high glucose levels. The cytotoxicity by a xenobiotic (1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene) was higher in K562 cells with high glucose than in control subjects (50% of inhibitory concentration. 300 _+ 24 gmol/1 vs 840 + 29 ~mol/1, p < 0.01). Expres" sion of ?~-glutamylcysteine synthetase protein was augmented in K562 cells with high glucose, while enzymatic activity and expression of mRNA were lower than those in the control subjects. These results suggest that inactivation of glutathione synthesis and thiol transport in diabetic patients increases the sensitivity of the cells to oxidative stresses, and these changes may lead to the development of some complications in diabetes mellitus. [Diabetologia (1995) 38: 201-210]

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A deep-seated rapid (catastrophic) landslide is a phenomenon that may cause serious damage due to the large amount of sediment movement, such as the formation of a landslide dam and debris flows. In Japan, a method for estimating deep-seated rapid (catastrophic) landslide susceptibilities for many small catchments (ca. 1 km 2 ) over relatively large areas (ca. hundreds of km 2 ) was proposed in 2008. In the present study, we applied the Japanese method to the northern part of Jember, East Java, Indonesia, where a debris flow disaster occurred due to the collapse of a landslide dam formed by a deep-seated rapid (catastrophic) landslide in 2004. Although there were several limitations related to data availability, we successfully assessed susceptibility to deep-seated rapid landslides.