NCT01550432

Effects of Glutathione (an Antioxidant) and N-Acetylcysteine on Inflammation

Effects of GSH and N-Acetylcysteine on Inflammatory Markers Among Adults With CVD Risk

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 78 (actual)
• Sponsor: Stanford University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The rationale for the potential role of antioxidants in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remains strong despite the disappointing results of recent trials with a few select antioxidant vitamins. Glutathione (GSH) is one of the body's most powerful antioxidant agents but there is a surprising paucity of data on its use as an interventional therapy. Glutathione, when taken orally, is immediately broken down into its constituent amino acids, of which cysteine is the only one to be essential. Available cysteine is the critical determinant of intracellular GSH concentrations. N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is an antioxidant supplement that has been used to provide a source of cysteine to replete GSH levels. By replenishing endogenous glutathione, it is possible that NAC would exert the same effect(s) as exogenous GSH. However, there is a new delivery system, liposomal GSH, which keeps glutathione intact. In this study, the investigators propose to match the cysteine content of NAC and GSH and compare the effects of these two supplements, at two different doses, on markers of inflammation and oxidative stress.

Conditions

• Obesity
• Hyperlipidemia
• Insulin Resistance
• Hypertension

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Glutathione	1,130 mg/day or 2,260 mg/day for 8 weeks
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	N-Acetylcysteine	600 mg/day or 1,200 mg/day for 8 weeks
OTHER	Placebo	Volume of liquid placebo product comparable to liposomal glutathione and 1 or 2 placebo pills/day.

Timeline

• Start date: 2011-06-01
• Primary completion: 2012-07-01
• Completion: 2012-07-01
• First posted: 2012-03-12
• Last updated: 2023-02-21

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States