Glutathione (GSH)

Parkinson’s Disease

A small randomized placebo controlled trial using IV glutathione over 4 weeks showed that it was well tolerated: “Preliminary efficacy data suggest the possibility of a mild symptomatic effect, but this remains to be evaluated in a larger study.”

Another small randomized placebo trial using nasal glutathione over 3 months showed improvement in total Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) (-4.6 (4.7), P = 0.0025) and UPDRS motor subscore (-2.2 (3.8), P = 0.0485) over baseline. However, there was also a strong placebo effect, so the authors recommended reproducing the study with a larger group and longer duration.

Glutathione is used by the famous neurologist, Dr David Perlmutter, for degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.

Cancer Risk

A review and discussion stated: “ROS production is significantly increased in cancer cells because of mitochondrial dysfunction, altered metabolism, and frequent genetic mutations, resulting in an accumulation of large amounts of oxidized protein, DNA, and lipids… as an adaptive response, cancer cells harbor elevated levels of ROS-scavenging molecules. Antioxidant mechanisms include enhanced expression of molecules that can modulate ROS accumulation by both enzymatic and nonenzymatic means…Glutathione (GSH) is an antioxidant that acts as a free radical scavenger and a detoxifying agent in cells. It is useful in a multitude of processes, cellular proliferation, cell division, and differentiation, and is the most commonly elevated metabolite detected during oxidative stress.

Skin Health

A randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study showed that “subjects who received GSH showed a significant reduction in wrinkles compared with those taking placebo. A tendency toward increased skin elasticity was observed in GSH and GSSG compared with placebo.”​

Several randomized controlled trials also showed some evidence that GSH can act as a skin-whitening agent to some parts of the body or to certain age groups.

Type 2 Diabetes

A study compared individuals with Diabetes Mellitus, Impaired Glucose Tolerance, and normal controls: “The mean levels of GSH in subjects with DM were significantly reduced compared with IGT or normal subjects… we came to the conclusion that GSH deficiency was of great significance in the pathogenesis of Diabetes Mellitus.”

Autism

An 8 week open label trial using liposomal glutathione showed “Recent evidence shows that children diagnosed with an ASD have lower levels of plasma reduced glutathione (generally 20–40% lower) than typically developing children and their levels of oxidized glutathione are higher than typically developing children… oral and transdermal glutathione supplementation may have some benefit in improving some of the transsulfuration metabolites.”

Rheumatoid Arthritis

A small study of 58 rheumatic patients “Rheumatoid arthritis was associated with significant depletion (ca. 50%) in GSH levels compared with normal control subjects.”

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

An open-label, single-arm, pilot trial showed that ALT levels, triglycerides, non-esterified fatty acids, and ferritin levels significantly decreased after GSH treatment.