Copyright © 2004 Priya ShahFree radicals and oxyradicals play an important role in
development and progression of many brain disorders such as brain injury, neurodegenerative disease, schizophrenia and Down syndrome.
Glutathione is
brain's master antioxidant and plays an important protective role in
brain.
According to Dr. Jimmy Gutman, "The brain is particularly susceptible to free radical attack because it generates more oxidative by-products per gram of tissue than any other organ."
Many neurological and psychiatric disease processes are characterized by... abnormalities in glutathione metabolism and antioxidant defenses."
Generation of reactive oxygen species (free radicals) and oxidative damage are an important cause of neuron (brain cell) death from brain injury.
Chemicals that cause toxicity to certain brain cells are known to decrease cerebral glutathione (GSH), making
cells more vulnerable to reactive oxygen species (ROS). (1)
On
other hand, over-expression of
glutathione peroxidase (GPX) enzyme potently decreases cell death from brain injury. (2)
Brain Injury and Glutathione - The Gender Difference
Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh have found that males and females respond differently to brain injury. (3)
In animal models, levels of glutathione remain constant in females who have suffered a brain injury, but drop by as much as 80 percent in males with
same injury.
When glutathione levels drop, brain cells die much more quickly. This suggests that boys with brain injuries may require different life-saving treatments than girls.
N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), a precursor of glutathione, already approved for use by
U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat people who have overdosed on acetaminophen, may be an effective treatment for brain injury in boys whose brains are deprived of oxygen.
Brain Disorders and Glutathione - A Genetic Cause?
Genetics researchers have found that
glutathione S-transferase gene controls
onset of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and determines, not if we get these diseases, but when. (4)
The glutathione S-transferase gene has previously been linked to
risk for Parkinson's disease among people who used pesticides.
A previous article covered
importance of glutathione in Parkinson's Disease. http://www.1whey2health.com/parkinsons_glutathione.htm
Alzheimer's Disease and Glutathione
Free radicals and oxidative damage in neurons is known to be a primary cause of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease.
Amyloid-ß peptide (Aß) accumulation in senile plaques, a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), has been implicated in neuronal degeneration.
Amyloid plaques encroaching on
brain increase
production of free radicals, or oxidative stress. Antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E "mop up"
damaging free radicals.
Glutathione (GSH) precursors can prevent death of brain cells induced by amyloid plaques in Alzhiemer's disease, while substances that deplete GSH increase cell death. (5)
Evidence has been piling up over
link between
amount of an amino acid called homocysteine in
blood and
chance of developing Alzheimer's.
For people not genetically predisposed to developing Alzheimer's, cholesterol and homocysteine, largely caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, are
core causal factors.
Welsh GP, Andrew McCaddon, showed that
more homocysteine that patients with Alzheimer's had,
worse their mental performance, and
worse their "cognitive impairment,"
less they had of
antioxidant glutathione. (6)