Talk:Glutathione/Archive 1

Unit Error

"Thiol groups are kept in a reduced state within ~5 mM in animal cells."

This is supposed to read 5 milimoles, but the capital M denotes molar, as in moles per dm³. I will change to the correct symbol for milimoles: mmol. 82.4.43.239 01:05, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

5 mmol in a cell is a rediculously large amount, surely millimolar was meant. Narayanese 22:00, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Health benefits, nutritional support, layman's explanation

This article needs a laymans explanation. I've heard it called the "master anti-oxidant" but I don't know why. It seems like the current article launches right into biochemistry. I would like someone to cover the various ways that Glutathione can be increased in the body by means that we can take ourselves --Rjms 11:26, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Biosynthesis by what organism?

To what organism does the biosynthesis section apply? To what phylogenic branches does this extend? More specifically, do Bacteria and/or Archaea synthesize glutathione, and do they use the same pathway? Asteen 13:59, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Bacteria do synthesize glutathione, and the pathway seems to be about the same: [1].

--Icek (talk) 12:11, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Almost all archaea, some bacteria (e.g. most Gram+) and some eukaryotes (e.g. Leguminosae and Giardia) lack glutathione. [2] Narayanese 00:34, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

A few protozoic eukaryotes use trypanothione instead of glutathione. Icek (talk) 18:47, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Supplements?

That looks like copyrighted text that's been rewritten (poorly) into the top of the section. Can anyone verify that it's not? At the least it needs cleaning up and referencing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.220.202.64 (talk) 10:45, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Yep, Glutguy is pushing a specific brand of glutathione supplement. I've started trying to clean up here. I had a quick look but I can't find any studies that contradict the 7-person study that found no clinically relevant increase in circulating glutathione after oral supplementation, except for some work in rats, some in vitro stuff and one study (of which I could only see the abstract) which showed absorption through the buccal mucosa, none of which convinces me. I also see there some stuff about "immunocal", claiming that all the references to whey protein (which I have trimmed somewhat, as we don't need a comprehensive literature survey to support a simple point) referred to "immunocal". I can't find that in the abstracts of the references that I left, but I don't have online access to journals since I completed my degree. Can someone please check it out? --Slashme (talk) 10:01, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Dosage

I am looking for some one that has information on the dosage that of this glutathione that was given a couple of years ago to my sister umbrella cockatoo. for some disorder. the vet is no longer in this area and she is unable to locate her. her bird is now sick again with a liver count of 139.

Log on to the3aminos.com for the answer. [www.the3aminos.com]

Glutathione Research-www.shophealthy.biz —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.150.138.25 (talk) 03:34, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Oral supplementation.

Hi Glutguy,

Please do not add advertisements for a specific company's product. Wikipedia is not an advertising service. With that out of the way, some more specific questions:

• Do you have a reference to a study which shows that human oral supplementation of glutathione leads to increased circulating glutathione levels?
• Do you have a reference to a study which shows any toxic effects from acetylcysteine supplementation?

Please address these questions before simply editing the page to say that oral glutathione supplementation is a good idea. --Slashme (talk) 08:12, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I have once again reverted your edits. The fact that only one blood sample was taken doesn't invalidate the study, and personal communication from two researchers isn't good enough. Give references please. I am open to persuasion that oral supplementation of glutathione is useful if I can see the research, but I will not stop reverting your advertisements for a specific supplement company. --Slashme (talk) 06:18, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Asthma link

This seems interesting but someone who knows more may like to integrate it into the article. Malick78 (talk) 07:47, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

That is a popular press article stating that there is a link between paracetamol and asthma. Not very relevant to the topic of glutathione: glutathione is only mentioned as a marker for oxidative stress.--Slashme (talk) 17:27, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Immunocal

At one time, there was a reference to a whey protein product called Immunocal. It was subsequently deleted. If the article mentions glutathione supplementation with whey protein, a reference to this particular product would be appropriate and helpful. The reasons are:

1. Immunocal is the best validated example of a whey protein powder intended for GSH supplementation. (i) It has an entry in the 2009 Physician's Desktop Reference and it has been included for a number of years. (ii) Use and formula is covered by 5 US patents. (iii) On Pubmed I counted 10 articles in peer-review medical literature describing studies of whey protein, in which the specific whey protein evaluated was Immunocal and the product was referred to by that name. There are no other whey protein powders that even come close to being this well validated.

2. In contrast, nutraceutical products in general are subject to a comparatively low level of validation. A nutraceutical only needs to meet requirements of a GRAS classification. To use the term "whey protein" without any qualification might suggest that whey protein is a standardized commodity - it certainly is not. There is a great deal of variance in the protein composition of whey protein powders. It is not entirely certain how this impacts effectiveness as a GSH supplement but animal studies suggest that higher percentages of bovine serum albumin and immunoglobulins result in a more effective supplement. These tend to be the percentages that many brands of whey protein will skimp in order to improve yields and reduce costs and some of these brands are not necessarily less expensive. A person interested in such supplementation should be made aware of the best validated product.

3. Immunocal does have brand name recognition among persons familiar with nutritional GSH supplementation. Some might suggest that discussing whey protein GSH supplements without mentioning Immunocal would be akin to discussing diazepam without ever commenting that it is marketed under the name of Valium, a brand-name product. The Wikipedia article on diazepam certainly does mention this fact.

Comments anyone? Entropy7 (talk) 01:19, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for reading this comment. I have researched the subject extensively and I realized I have so much material on my hard drive, I might as well do an article about glutathione supplements. So never mind about the glutathione article. Entropy7 (talk) 19:37, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

RandyGrover Comment :

Immunocal is now Adressed by Health Canada as the Only Proven Nutraceutical to boost your immune system naturally.

Quote: "Recommended Use or Purpose: Natural source of the glutathione precursor cysteine for the maintenance of a strong immune system." ((You may need to refresh Health Canada Page a few times.)) [3]

Skin Whitening

There is no mention of it yet the internet is filled with references to it as a whitener. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ericg33 (talk • contribs) 07:49, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Pathway diagram

• You can use: commons:File:One-carbon metabolism and the transsulfuration pathway.jpg. Best regards,--CopperKettle 06:18, 14 August 2009 (UTC)

Use as a supplement

There is alot of information floating around on its use as supplement. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.30.141.233 (talk) 21:09, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

Proton Donor?

It says in the text that: "The sulfhydryl (thiol) group (SH) of cysteine serves as a proton donor" which i think means that it's positively charged. But if it binds with electrophillic compounds, surely it must be negatively charged? I'm not much of a chemist so I don't feel comfortable changing it myself. Abergabe (talk) 11:52, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

Glutathione is a mild proton donor (i.e. a weak acid). It releases H⁺ and becomes negatively charged:

RSH(aq) → RS⁻(aq) + H⁺(aq)

Glutathione is like most thiols. It does all of the following things that other thiols do well:

The pK_a of a thiol is usually about 8–10, which is about the same acidity as phenol.

pK_a: sulfuric acid (≈ 0) < carboxylic acids (≈ 5) < thiols, phenols (≈ 10) < water, alcohols (≈ 15).

Thiols are also good nucleophiles, meaning they react readily with electrophiles (EX):

RSH + EX → RSE + HX

Thiolate anions are even better nucleophiles:

RS⁻ + E⁺ → RSE

Two thiol groups can be joined by oxidation (loss of electrons) to form a disulfide bond:

RSH + HSR → RSSR + 2H⁺ + 2e⁻

If the H⁺ ions and the electrons are not kept separate, the overall reaction is loss of hydrogen gas:

RSH + HSR → RSSR + H₂

Hope this answers your question and briefly summarises the chemistry of glutathione.

Ben (talk) 13:24, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

That makes sense, I was thinking about it from completely the wrong view. Cheers! Abergabe (talk) 08:53, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

L(-)-Glutathione

L-glutathione is sold for health benefits, presumably that is using the L- forms of the amino acid components, and is distinct from L(-)-glutathione as shown at L(-)-Glutathione with disulphide link between two tripeptides forming Glutathione disulfide that has same structure. - Rod57 (talk) 16:33, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

Unapproved use of glutathione injections for skin whitening

The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an advisory in May 2011 against taking regular injections of the glutathione due to claims that the drug whitened the skin by deactivating the enzyme tyrosinase, which helps produce melanin. The agency suspects that the chemical is being injected in high doses and monitored many cases of glutathione use resulting in ailments. It warned that repeated injections of the drug could lead to kidney failure, blood poisoning and toxic epidermal necrolysis, in which a large portion of the skin peels off, exposing the human body to many infections. Edzitor (talk) 07:11, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

Mustq

Could someone link "must" to the Wiki def? It slides by and i had to look it up.Longinus876 (talk) 13:55, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Bad Citation?

The Function section contains the sentence:

"Regulation of the nitric oxide cycle is critical for life, but can be problematic if unregulated.[20]"

with footnote 20. The footnote gives the following reference:

Clementi, Emilio; Smith, Guy Charles; Howden, Martin; Dietrich, Salvador; Bugg, S; O'Connell, MJ; Goldsbrough, PB; Cobbett, CS (1999). "Phytochelatin synthase genes from Arabidopsis and the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe". The Plant cell 11 (6): 1153–64. doi:10.1105/tpc.11.6.1153. JSTOR 3870806. PMC 144235. PMID 10368185.

This article does not appear to have any direct bearing on nitric oxide biochemistry. It does not appear to support the statement about regulation of the nitric oxide cycle.

On the face of it, the reference appears to be invalid, and the statement unsupported. The statement may be irrelevant, possibly misleading in the context of this article.

7802mark (talk) 17:54, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

Sources for future use

Hello all, I plan to add to/revise the Function section. Let me know what your thoughts are on the several references I'll list below:

1. Role of membrane transport in metabolism and function of glutathione in mammals
2. Metabolism and functions of glutathione in brain
3. Glutathione is required for intestinal function.
4. Glutathione
5. Glutathione and its role in cellular functions

Firstly, I will verifying claims as someone pointed out earlier that some citations are lacking/nonexistent. Then I will attempt to fill in gaps - some of the consecutive paragraphs/subsections feel stagnant and distant with each other. The multiple functions section is slightly misleading - those aren't all the functions. Also, some of the sections sound too technical and may confuse and detract from the meaning.

Additionally, current research has brought attention to the role of glutathione in plants albeit not as expansive as in animals - the function in plants needs a little more work to bring it to the standards of the current Function in animals section. I plan to improve its description by making the section more meaningful rather than simply a list. I'm still compiling a list of sources.

Jjexpat (talk) 06:57, 28 April 2016 (UTC)

References

Error in Statement regarding N-Acetylcysteine for NAPQI poisoning

It was stated that N-Acetylcysteine was used in the atomized form, this really is only in regard to treat respiratory conditions, not Acetaminophen poisoning where they actually use it orally or by IV. Now it is true that sometimes the liquid for respiratory use is sometimes given orally for acetaminophen poisoning (my experience years ago as a hospital pharmacist). See the Merck Manual citation: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/injuries-poisoning/poisoning/acetaminophen-poisoning — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.77.182.46 (talk) 02:58, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

Chemical Abstracts report

355,172 references discuss GSH, 253,611 appearing since 2000, of which 11,094 are classified as reviews.--Smokefoot (talk) 23:07, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

Covid19

[4] This is a preprint so leaving it here for now. 2601:648:8202:96B0:3567:50D5:8BFF:4588 (talk) 09:34, 15 May 2020 (UTC)