Endogenous Deficiency of Glutathione

June 19, 2020

About this newsletter:

This is a peer-reviewed publication which means experts in the same field vetted this article prior to approval for publication. This is a condensed version with bullet points. The link to the full article follows. It advocates n-acetylcysteine (NAC) or IV glutathione which are both non-proprietary. Riboceine is a proprietary scientific breakthrough health supplement that is 300% more effective than NAC without the accompanying side effects from over 750 mg. IV glutathione is not nearly as effective as NAC or Riboceine and it is an invasive procedure and costly.

This article is optimistic but appalling at the same time. Could the technology to prevent this pandemic have been right available all this time? We will keep you updated.

ACS Infect Dis. 2020 May 28; acsinfecdis.0c00288.doi:10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00288.Online ahead print.

Endogenous Deficiency of Glutathione as the Most Likely Cause of Serious Manifestations and Death in COVID-19 Patients

Alexy Polonikv

Affiliation

Department of Biology, Medical Genetics and Ecology and Research Institute for Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology, Kursk State Medical University, 3 Karl Marx Street, 305041 Kursk, Russian Federation.

PMID:3243221

PMCID: PMC&23077

DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00288

Free PMC article

Abstract

Higher rates of serious illness and death from coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection among older people and those who have comorbidities suggest that age- and disease-related biological processes make such individuals more sensitive to environmental stress factors including infectious agents like coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Specifically, impaired redox homeostasis and associated oxidative stress appear to be important biological processes that may account for increased individual susceptibility to diverse environmental insults. The aim of this Viewpoint is to justify

(1) the crucial roles of glutathione in determining individual responsiveness to COVID-19 infection and disease pathogenesis and

(2) the feasibility of using glutathione as a means for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 illness. The hypothesis that glutathione deficiency is the most plausible explanation for serious manifestation and death in COVID-19 patients was proposed on the basis of an exhaustive literature analysis and observations.

The hypothesis unravels the mysteries of epidemiological data on the risk factors determining serious manifestations of COVID-19 infection and the high risk of death and opens real opportunities for effective treatment and prevention of the disease.

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no competing financial interest.

Figure 1

The relationship between risk factors and serious manifestations in Covid-19 patients could be attributable to a common cause, glutathione deficiency.
Taken together, these findings suggest that glutathione deficiency rather than vitamin D deficiency is a primary cause underlying biochemical abnormalities including the decreased biosynthesis of vitamin D and is responsible for serious manifestations and death in Covid-19 patients.
It is important to note that there is evidence that glutathione inhibits replication of various viruses at different stages of the viral life cycle (Fig 1), and this antiviral property of GSH seems to prevent increased viral loads and the subsequent massive release of inflammatory cells into the lung (‘cytokine storm”).
Glutathione deficiency exacerbates Covid-19 illness.

Hypothesis

Endogenous glutathione deficiency appears to be a crucial factor enhancing SARS-CoV-2-induced oxidative damage of the lung and, as a result, leads to serious manifestations, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, multiorgan failure, and death in Covid-19 patients.
When the antiviral activity of GSH is taken into account, individuals with glutathione deficiency seem to have higher susceptibility for uncontrolled replication of SARS-CoV-2 virus and thereby suffering from an increased viral load.
The severity of clinical manifestations in Covid-19 patients is apparently determined by the degree of production.