Glutathione and Covid 19

November 21, 2022

Whether we like it or not, Covid 19 is here to stay. The virus continues to evolve, with new strains getting worse each time. Concerns are heightened due to a new strain, Omicron BA.5, which is the dominant strain of Covid 19. It is more susceptible than other strains as it evades immunity to previous Covid 19 infections and vaccinations.

Glutathione and Covid 19 recovery go together like ibuprofen and headaches. In other words, IV glutathione can be used as a treatment to aid Covid 19 recovery.

Coming back to glutathione, how is it related to Covid 19?

Glutathione is a biological antioxidant. It is found in the mitochondria of all mammalian tissues and plays an important role in reducing oxidative stress. It is a pleiotropic tripeptide composed of glycine, cysteine and glutamic acid. Free synthesis between cells takes place in two steps. The first step uses glutamine and cysteine as substrates and is catalyzed (accelerated) by glutamine-cysteine ligase (GSL). This produces glutamylcysteine. The second step in the process adds glycine to glutamyl cysteine catalyzed by glutathione synthase (GS).

"Increased oxidative stress and decreased glutathione levels are associated with many conditions, including aging, diabetes, HIV infection, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular disease, neurometabolic diseases, and obesity. “said Dr. Rajagopal Sekhar, corresponding author and associate professor of medicine. . Baylor Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. "We believe that Covid 19 may also affect oxidative stress and glutathione, and this study confirmed this in adults hospitalized with Covid 19. We found that it occurs in all age groups adults and worsens with age.

Sekhar and his colleagues worked with 60 participants (25 women, 35 men, ages 21 to 85) who were admitted to hospital due to their diagnosis of Covid 19. The team measured levels of oxidative stress, oxidative damage and glutathione in blood samples from patients and compared them to blood samples from healthy people.

The researchers divided the samples into three different groups based on the age of the Covid 19 patients. 21 to 40 year old group, 41 to 60 year old group and over 61 year old group. In an earlier study, Sekhar's group found that healthy adults have stable levels of oxidative stress, oxidative damage, and glutathione until age 60, when oxidative stress and damage begin to occur. increase and glutathione decreases. The Covid 19 infection has changed this pattern.

“We were surprised to find that Covid 19 patients in the 21-40 and 41-60 age groups had significantly less glutathione and more oxidative stress than their corresponding non-Covid 19 age groups,” said Sekhar said. "We knew that healthy people aged 60 and over who were not infected with Covid 19 tended to be glutathione deficient and had elevated oxidative stress. When infected, glutathione levels were much lower and oxidative stress was much higher than similar age groups without Covid 19."

Endogenous glutathione deficiency is the most likely cause of severe illness and death from Covid 19.

There is also evidence that glutathione can inhibit viral replication and reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels. Post-Covid 19 glutathione therapy is used in combination with other Covid 19 therapies and treatments. Glutathione and coronavirus have also been linked long term, so treatment with glutathione may reduce Covid 19 symptoms long term.

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