Age-Related Changes in Glutathione

Drs. J.P. Richie and Calvin Lang, of the Department of Biochemistry, University of Louisville, were the first to propose that a Glutathione deficiency might be a biochemical cause of the aging process. They demonstrated that Glutathione levels decline with age in a number of organisms, including mosquitoes, mice, and man. They proposed that restoring Glutathione tissue concentrations to those of younger organisms might result in an extension of the lifespan.These scientists first tested their hypothesis using adult mosquitoes. They fed magnesium thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (MgTCA) (which is known to increase Glutathione) to the mosquitoes, and measured the insects’ Glutathione levels and lifespans. The MgTCA supplementation increased GSH levels by 50-100 percent, and increased www. lifespans by 30-38 percent over control values (Fig. 2), confirming the GSH deficiency hypothesis and demonstrating a specific biochemical mechanism of aging that can be nutritionally modified.

In a related study, Dr. G. Buonous of the Montreal General Hospital Research Institute, Quebec, studied the effects of a whey-rich diet on tissue Glutathione concentrations and survival of 21-month-old mice (equivalent to a human age of about 55-60). The study was performed over six months, until the mice were the human equivalent of about 80 years old. As in the MgTCA-fed mosquitoes, Glutathione tissue concentrations and longevity of the whey-fed mice increased significantly above control levels. Dr. Lang and his colleagues, as well as a number of other scientists, found that blood Glutathione levels predictably declined with age in healthy men and women ranging in age from 20 to 94, just as they do in mosquitoes, mice and rats.