What is Glutathione?

Glutathione, as an active tripeptide, comprised of three amino acids: glutamic acid (Glu), cysteine (Cys), and glycine (Gly).

Glutathione is soluble in water, dilute alcohol, liquid ammonia, and dimethylformamide, and is insoluble in ethanol, ether, and acetone. The solid state of glutathione is relatively stable, and its aqueous solution easily oxidized in the air.

Food Sources of glutathione:

You could find it easily in animal liver, blood, yeast and wheat germ, and a small number of plant tissues such as various vegetables.

Forms of Glutathione

L-Glutathione exists in reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG; glutathione disulfide) forms in cells and tissues, and the concentration of glutathione range from 0.5 to 10mM in animal cells.

Let’s look at the difference between them:

Product information	L-Glutathione Reduced	L-Glutathione oxidized
English Synonyms	GSH	GSSG; Glutathione
CAS NO.	70-18-8	27025-41-8
Molecular formula	C10H17N3O6S	C20H32N6O12S2
Molecular weight	307.32 g/mol	612.63 g/mol
Molecular structure
Difference	GSH is the primary active state, accounting for about 95%; GSSG is about 1% inactive; GSH has only peptide bonds, and GSSG also contains a disulfide bond; GSH binding ability is stronger than GSSG; Glutathione reductase catalyzes the interconversion between GSH and GSSG.

Believe you should have a preliminary understanding of glutathione. Let’s go further.

Enzymatic recycling of reduced Glutathione

Reduced glutathione (GSH), a tripeptide composed of cysteine, glutamate, and glycine, which is essential in controlling signaling processes, detoxification and various other cellular processes. Glutathione disulfide (GSSG) is an oxidized form of glutathione. It reduces to GSH in the presence of glutathione reductase (GR) in the presence of NADPH. Glutathione peroxidase converts hydrogen peroxide to water.

Why do we need to replenish Glutathione?

Glutathione inhibits the synthesis of human hepatocytes. When people are young, they can maintain regular demand, but as they grow older, integration capacity begins to decline, and supply capacity begins to appear insufficient.

Also, excessive drinking, smoking, prolonged exposure to high concentrations of pollution, exposure to toxic substances, long-term or large-scale use of drugs, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, etc., can also lead to increased glutathione consumption rate in vivo than glutathione-synthesis in vivo. Due to the reduction of endogenous GSH under pathological conditions, it is necessary to supplement exogenous GSH in time. The supplementation of exogenous GSH can prevent, alleviate and prevent damage of tissue cells and change pathophysiological processes.

In recent years, a large number of clinical, preliminary experimental data show that GSH also has anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombosis, anti-epilepsy, vascular protection, and other effects. Therefore, GSH should have broader application prospects for the treatment of severe and severe diseases.

Functions of Glutathione on the human body

As a major intracellular antioxidant

Excessive free radicals produced by the body’s metabolism can damage the biofilm, invade life macromolecules, accelerate the body’s aging, and induce tumor or atherosclerosis.

Glutathione plays an essential role in the biochemical defense system in the human body. Its primary physiological function is to scavenge free radicals in the human body. It is an antioxidant in the body and protects many thiol groups in proteins and enzymes.

As a broad-spectrum antidote

Glutathione can combine with toxic compounds, heavy metal ions or carcinogens entering the human body, and promote its excretion, neutralizing and detoxifying.

The liver is a large warehouse for storing glutathione. Increasing glutathione levels restores liver function and promotes glutathione.

As an important immune enhancer

The essential responsibilities of glutathione (GSH) are: activate lymphocytes and distinguish between proliferating T cells and B cells, making T cells toxic to kill viruses or cancer cells.

Increasing the level of glutathione in cells is the most effective weapon to enhance the immune system.

As an effective anti-aging and beauty brightener

Glutathione can effectively delay cell aging and stimulate cell regeneration. At the same time, it can prevent skin pigmentation by affecting skin cell tyrosinase activity and inhibiting melanin production.

Glutathione can increase or promote the secretion of interleukin (human auxin). Interleukins can regulate the shortening of telomere shortening and prolong cell life, thereby extending human life.

Glutathione is an effective antioxidant against free radical damage to DNA mitochondria and repairs damaged DNA mitochondria; thus prolonging the cell division cycle and extending cell life.

Recommend Dosage and Safety of Glutathione

Scientific evidence suggests that glutathione intake is preferably between 100 and 150 mg per day. Therefore, 100 mg of daily intake is ideal for healthy people. However, for people with low levels of glutathione in their bodies (sub-health or unhealthy), glutathione intake should be consulted with a health care practitioner to determine the appropriate dose.

Since glutathione is a natural substance already in the human body, it is theoretically very safe. After a large number of social food-testing experiments, the participants consumed 1000 mg per day or ten times the recommended dosage, and the research proved to be safe.

Glutathione Powder & S-Acetyl Glutathione

S-Acetyl Glutathione (S-A-GSH), a unique form of glutathione, is an acetyl group (COCH3), is attached to the sulfur atom of cysteine in the glutathione molecule.

S-Acetyl Glutathione protects glutathione from decomposition in the gastrointestinal tract; after it is absorbed, it can be removed in cells to keep glutathione molecules intact.

One study showed the advantage of S-A-GSH both in vivo and in vitro as compared to GSH in regards to increased intracellular levels of GSH.

Mainly Applications of L-Glutathione Reduced

Clinical drugs:

At present, glutathione drugs have artificially developed and widely used in clinical practice. In addition to the use of sulfhydryl groups to chelate heavy metals, fluorides, mustard gas, and another toxin poisoning, it also used in hepatitis, hemolytic diseases, keratitis, cataracts, and Retinal diseases, as a drug for treatment or adjuvant therapy. In recent years, Western Science Awards, In particular, Japanese scholars have found that glutathione has the benefits in inhibiting HIV.

Researches also found that GSH can correct the imbalance of acetylcholine and cholinesterase,anti-allergic, prevents skin aging and pigmentation, reduces the formation of melanin, improves the skin’s antioxidant capacity, and makes the surface shiny. GSH also has a good effect on treating corneal diseases and improving sexual function.

Drug:

1. Pharmacological action: glutathione-containing drugs can promote the metabolism of sugar, fat, and protein, accelerate free radical excretion, protect liver synthesis, detoxification, inactivate hormones, etc.
2. Liver protection: Due to the rehab and antioxidant capacity of glutathione itself, glutathione has an essential function of protecting the liver and protecting the liver. Reduced glutathione clinically used as a crucial pharmaceutical ingredient for liver protection.
3. Clinical application: It is suitable for adjuvant treatment such as fatty liver, poisoning, and viral hepatitis.

Used in combination with vitamin C

Vitamin C is an essential antioxidant in the body. Since vitamin C can be reversibly hydrogenated or dehydrogenated, Vitamin C plays a vital role in many redox reactions in the body. For example, the active group of many enzymes is a thiol (-SH) that maintains the activity of the protein while keeping the -SH in a reduced state; vitamin C can convert oxidized glutathione to reduced glutathione, Hydrogen peroxide reduction from body metabolism; vitamin C also protects vitamins A, E and certain B vitamins from oxidation. Therefore, when glutathione used, it can be combined with vitamin C to improve its efficacy.

Food

Glutathione can be used as a base for functional foods and widely used in functional foods such as anti-aging, immunity enhancement, and anti-tumor. It has a unique physiological function called longevity factor and anti-aging factor.