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Glutathione may protect brain

By increasing levels of glutathione, a natural antioxidant found throughout the human body, AUTHORS, have been able to protect cells in the brains of laboratory animals from a kind of damage associated with Alzheimer s disease. AUTHORS presented data on the effects of acrolein, a breakdown product that forms when free radicals attack lipids found in neural membranes. AUTHORS s experiments show that acrolein alters the conformation of proteins in neural membranes in gerbils in a way that is also seen in the brains of patients with Alzheimer s disease. However, the glutathione levels in the gerbils brains could be doubled by treating the animals with the precursor molecule N-acetylcysteine. When brains of pretreated animals were injected with acrolein to match the levels of this compound found in the brains of Alzheimer s patients, the protein conformation remained unaltered. "That means the glutathione was able to intercept the acrolein before it had a chance to damage the protein," AUTHOR explains. N-Acetylcysteine is an approved drug for other uses, making it a promising candidate for further testing for possible use in Alzheimer s patients, the researchers suggest.




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