N-acetylecysteine: The multiuse antioxidant

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 forensic medicine and clinical toxicology faculty of medicine sohag university

2 anaesthesia and intensive care ,faculty of medicine, sohag university

3 medical microbiology and immunology

4 forensic medicine and clinical toxicology, faculty of medicine, sohag university

5 medical biochemistry, faculty of medicine, sohag university

Abstract

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an acetylated variant of the amino acid L-cysteine, is an effective antidote able to increase cell protection against oxidative stress , it acts as an antioxidant by restoring the pool of intracellular reduced glutathione, which is often depleted as a consequence of increased status of oxidative stress and inflammation. It has reducing and antioxidant properties, acting as a direct scavenger of ROS (reactive oxygen species).
NAC is available in different dosage forms for different indications.
Many studies stated other uses of NAC such as mucolytic action which is useful in obstructive airway , nasal sinus diseases as it liquefies bacterial biofilms ( antibacterial action), decrease radio contrast induced kidney disease, treatment of many neuropsychiatric diseases like Alzheimer's disease, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, specific drug addictions (cocaine) and a certain form of epilepsy (progressive myoclonic) through central mechanisms, and improved fertility outcome in both males and females.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics