Glutathione and Cardiovascular Disease

Researchers studied the association between fasting plasma total Glutathione levels and cardiovascular disease among 134 cardiovascular disease cases and 435 healthy control subjects.

3 Mean totalGlutathione concentrations were lower in all cardiovascular disease cases than in control subjects. Among subgroups of subjects with different types of cardiovascular disease, both the cerebral infarction cases and cerebral hemorrhage cases had significantly lower Glutathione levels than the corresponding control groups.

After adjustment for other confounding factors, the risk of cardiovascular disease was significantly lower in the subjects with the highest Glutathione levels compared to the subjects with the lowest levels. This association was most prominent in patients with lacunar infarction or cerebral hemorrhage.

According to the study authors, “These findings suggest that reduced plasma total Glutathione levels are a risk factor for CVD, especially for cerebral small vessel disease.”Australian researchers established a similar link between Glutathione and cardiovascular health.

When the researchers caused a drop in Glutathione levels in the mitochondria of cultured brain cells, the cells became more vulnerable to damage by nitric oxide or peroxynitrite.The same researchers conducted an in vivo study and determined that a partial loss of Glutathione occurs during cerebral ischemia (stroke) and persists during reperfusion (the reintroduction of blood into the blocked area).

Furthermore, infusion of Glutathione monoethylester, a compound that can increase mitochondrial glutathione, decreased the volume of the area deprived of blood.

The researchers concluded, “Together these recent findings indicate that alterations in mitochondrial Glutathione are likely to contribute to the severity of tissue damage in stroke and possibly other neurological disorders.” By Kimberly Pryor