Dietary supplement helps to keep immune system balanced

Stanford researchers have found that giving patients who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) a daily dose of a dietary supplement can boost their levels of Glutathione­ a nutrient essential for proper functioning of the immune system. Restoring glutathione levels to those found in healthy people may help HIV-infected patients fight the AIDS-causing virus and fend off other diseases.

"The importance here is that Glutathione is a central component of all cells, and Glutathione deficiency is associated with poor prognosis in many, many diseases," said Leonore (Lee) Herzenberg, PhD, professor of genetics. She is senior author of a paper describing the new study, published in the October 1 issue of the European Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Lee Herzenberg and her colleagues conducted a clinical trial in which 31 HIV-infected patients were given daily doses of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) ­ a substance that is turned into Glutathione in the body. Thirty others were given a benign sugar pill. At the start of the trial all patients had Glutathione deficiency ­ some patients had only half the amount found in healthy people. At the end of the two-month trial, those taking NAC had increased the amount of Glutathione in their bodies to near-normal levels.

"What we've proven is that giving people NAC replenishes the Glutathione stores," said Lee Herzenberg.

At the completion of the eight-week trial, most patients chose to take NAC for the following six months while the researchers continued monitoring the safety of the supplement. They found that patients suffered no ill effects that could be attributed to daily NAC ingestion.

Glutathione is not an anti-retroviral drug, stressed genetics professor Leonard (Len) Herzenberg, PhD. It does not decrease the amount of virus in patients' blood or increase their number of virus-fighting T cells, but it does restore the immune system, the researchers said.
Previous findings by the Herzenbergs and others show that T cells perform better in HIV-infected patients when their Glutathione levels are replenished. Reversal of Glutathione deficiency is also associated with improvement in many other diseases including diabetes, influenza and cystic fibrosis.

"The level of Glutathione is tightly regulated in cells. If nature has gone to the trouble of maintaining those levels, logic says it should be restored to that level if you can," said Lee Herzenberg. "It's like a vitamin deficiency. Any vitamin deficiency would immediately be corrected, and we believe that this is equivalent to a vitamin deficiency."

The Herzenberg team hopes that the benefits of maintaining normal Glutathione levels will encourage people suffering from long-term diseases to avoid lifestyle factors that deplete Glutathione, such as exposure to ultraviolet light and alcohol consumption. They also recommend limited use of acetaminophen ­ the active ingredient in common painkillers such as Tylenol ­ because the risk of liver damage is increased for those with low Glutathione levels.
The Herzenbergs are confident that the new findings will speed the introduction into the U.S. market of medicinal-quality NAC that AIDS patients and others can take to maintain normal Glutathione levels. BY KRISTIN WEIDENBACH

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