Glutathione Levels Predictably Declined With Age

Scientists at the University of Pavia found that Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels also follow this age-related pattern up to about age 75 (Fig. 3), after which they noted a slight increase with age in a cross-sectional study (Fig. 4). They interpreted this as a self-selection process, which enabled those with the highest Glutathione peroxidase levels to survive the longest.

In another study of enzyme activity in the very old, Dr. Helle Anderson and colleagues at Odense University in Denmark compared the levels of Glutathione reductase (GR) in 41 centenarians between 100-105 years old, to that in 52 community controls between the ages of 60-79. They found that the mean Glutathione reductase (GR) activity was significantly higher in centenarians than in the group of younger elderly subjects, and that centenarians with the best functional capacity tended to have the highest GR activity.

They concluded that high GR activity appears likely to be associated with increased survival.8 In a later study, Lang’s group evaluatedGlutathione levels in 87 women in excellent physical and mental health, ranging in age from 60 to 103. The scientists found that all subjects had very high blood Glutathione levels. They followed these women for five years, and concluded that “high blood Glutathione concentrations … are characteristic of long-lived women.”