Cellular GSH may influence the metabolism of the rodent brain and forestomach carcinogen acrylonitrile (ACN) and its subsequent binding to tissue macromolecules. To investigate the role of GSH in ACN metabolism and binding to macromolecules, we studied the effect of GSH depletion on the irreversible association of radiolabel with tissue macromolecules in male F-344 rats given a 4 mg/kg dose of [2,3-14C]ACN by inhalation. A combined phorone/buthionine sulfoximine treatment (300 mg/kg and 2 mmol/kg, respectively) was given 30 minutes prior to ACN exposure to deplete GSH. The uptake of ACN vapor by control rats was biphasic and characterized by a rapid phase lasting about 60 min and by a slower phase from 60 min to the end of exposure. The rate of uptake for both phases was linearly related to the initial concentration of ACN in the chamber. GSH depletion caused an increase in the rate of ACN uptake in both phases. It also caused a decrease in total radioactivity recovered in brain, stomach, liver, kidney, and blood and a concomitant decrease in the ACN-derived nondialyzable radioactivity in these organs. In control rats, accumulation of radiolabel was greatest in brain RNA, but no radioactivity was detected in DNA of any organ examined. In GSH-depleted rats, the radiolabel concentration was higher in brain RNA than in the liver or stomach RNA, but was also 50% lower than that observed in brain RNA of control rats. Urinary excretion of thiocyanate (SCN-), a metabolite derived from the epoxide pathway of ACN metabolism, was doubled in GSH-depleted rats. These results suggest that GSH might be involved in the distribution of ACN-derived reactive species and, therefore, might play a role in the binding of ACN-derived species to tissue macromolecules and nucleic acids.