Fine tune your immune response.

Glutathione is known as a major antioxidant the body is making, but it does much more than protect us from free radical damage.

Altered intracellular glutathione levels are observed in a wide range of pathologies, including several viral infections, as well as in aging (Fraternale A, et.al., 2017). This causes an unbalanced immune response.

Glutathione has been shown to inhibit the replication and survival of several pathogens like viruses and bacteria (Fraternale A, et.al., 2017).

Glutathione depletion has shown to prevent activation of antiviral response and its inhibition of influenza virus infection (Diotallevi M, et.al., 2017).

Diotallevi M, et.al. write that the main function of glutathione is to fine-tune the innate immune response to infection.

If you want to take glutathione, use S-Acetyl Glutathione, that has shown to get into the cells (Cacciatore I, et.al.,2010). Reduced glutathione which is the most common form of glutathione is for the most part oxidized in the stomach and is not that useful.

References:

Cacciatore I, Cornacchia C, Pinnen F, Mollica A, Di Stefano A. Prodrug approach for increasing cellular glutathione levels.Molecules. 2010 Mar 3;15(3):1242-64.

Diotallevi M, Checconi P, Palamara AT, Celestino I, Coppo L, Holmgren A, Abbas K, Peyrot F, Mengozzi M, Ghezzi P. Glutathione Fine-Tunes the Innate Immune Response toward Antiviral Pathways in a Macrophage Cell Line Independently of Its Antioxidant Properties.Front Immunol. 2017 Sep 29;8:1239.

Fraternale A, Brundu S, Magnani M. Glutathione and glutathione derivatives in immunotherapy. Biol Chem. 2017 Feb 1;398(2):261-275.

Effective S-Acetyl Glutathione

As we get older, our cells begin to lose their ability to repair themselves. We make less glutathione, and we actually need more. In certain conditions, younger people may need more glutathione as well.