Changes in intracellular redox couples and redox reactive molecules have been implicated in the regulation of a variety of cellular processes, including cell proliferation and growth arrest by contact inhibition. However, the magnitude, direction and temporal relationship of redox changes to cellular responses are incompletely defined. The present work sought to characterize redox and metabolic changes associated with proliferative stages to contact inhibition of growth in rat IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cells. From the first day of culture until one day prior to confluence, an increase in GSH concentrations and a significant reduction in the redox potential of the GSSG/2GSH couple were observed. These changes were accompanied by a decrease in relative reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) concentrations and oxidation of the redox potential of the NADP⁺/NADPH and NAD⁺/NADH couples. Post-confluent cells exhibited a significant decrease in GSH concentrations and a significant oxidation of the GSSG/2GSH couple. When cell proliferation decreased, relative ROS concentrations increased (P < 0.01) while NO concentrations remained unchanged and the NAD⁺/NADH couple became more reduced. Together, these data indicate that the redox potential of distinct couples varies differentially in both magnitude and direction during successive stages of IEC-6 growth. This finding points out the difficulty of defining intracellular redox status at particular stages of cell growth by examining only one redox species. In addition, the data provide a numerical framework for future research of regulatory mechanisms governed by distinct intracellular redox couples.