A new study published in the Neurochemistry International Journal, has shown that supplementing with glutathione precursor γ-glutamylcysteine (γ-GC) reduces oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and amyloid pathology in the brains of transgenic mice.
The study, by a team of researchers from UNSW Sydney’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), also found significant cognitive improvements in the mice as determined using the Morris water maze, a test often used to test memory in mice.
Reportedly, the study identifies for the first time that γ-GC as a glutathione-elevating strategy in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model and is likely to have clinical relevance.
“Cellular depletion of glutathione has been linked to cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer’s pathology,” says senior author and leader of CHeBA’s Brain Ageing Research Laboratory, Dr Nady Braidy.
“Supplementation with γ-GC can transiently augment cellular glutathione levels by bypassing the regulation of glutathione homeostasis.”
The team is currently investigating γ-GC’s use in the treatment of other neurodegenerative disorders (including Parkinson’s disease), cystic fibrosis and autism.
For more information and to read the study, visit: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0197018620303223?via%3Dihub
