Glutathione (GSH) is a kind of protein containing glutathione γ- A tripeptide consisting of glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine that is present in almost every cell of the body.
Glutathione can help maintain normal immune system function, and has Antioxidant effect, integrated detoxification. The sulfhydryl group on cysteine is its active group (so it is often abbreviated as g-sh). It is easy to combine with some drugs and toxins, so that it has integrated detoxification effect. Glutathione can not only be used in medicine, but also as the base material of functional food. It is widely used in functional food such as anti-aging, enhancing immunity, anti-tumor and so on.
Glutathione has two forms: reduced glutathione (g-sh) and oxidized glutathione (g-s-s-g). Glutathione reductase can catalyze the tautomerism between glutathione reductase and glutathione reductase. The coenzyme of glutathione reductase can also provide NADPH for pentose phosphate bypass metabolism.
Content distribution
Glutathione widely exists in animals and plants, and plays an important role in the organism. It has high content in baker's yeast, wheat germ and animal liver (100 ~ 1000 mg / 100g), 26 ~ 34 mg / 100g in human blood, 58 ~ 73 mg / 100g in chicken blood, 10 ~ 15 mg / 100g in pig blood, 12 ~ 33 mg / 100g in tomato, pineapple and cucumber, and low content in sweet potato, mung bean sprout, onion and Lentinus edodes (0.06 ~ 0.7 mg / 100g)
Physiological Function
Detoxification: combine with poison or drug to eliminate its toxic effect;
Participate in redox reaction: as an important reducing agent, participate in a variety of redox reactions in vivo;
Protect the activity of sulfhydrylase: keep sh, the active group of sulfhydrylase, in reducing state;
Maintaining the stability of erythrocyte membrane structure: eliminating the damaging effect of oxidants on erythrocyte membrane structure
Main applications
Main clinical drugs
Glutathione drugs are widely used in clinic. In addition to chelating heavy metals, fluoride, mustard gas and other toxins with its sulfhydryl group, they are also used in hepatitis, hemolytic diseases, keratitis, cataract and retinal diseases as therapeutic or adjuvant drugs. In recent years, Western scientists, especially Japanese scholars, have found that glutathione has the function of inhibiting HIV.
The latest research also shows that GSH can correct the imbalance of acetylcholine and cholinesterase, play an anti allergic role, also can prevent skin aging and pigmentation, reduce the formation of melanin, improve the skin antioxidant capacity and make the skin produce luster. In addition, GSH also plays a good role in the treatment of keratoconjunctivosis and improving sexual function.
Antioxidation
Glutathione, as an important antioxidant in the body, can eliminate the free radicals in the body; Because GSH itself is easily oxidized by some substances, it can protect the sulfhydryl groups in many proteins and enzymes from being oxidized by harmful substances, so as to ensure the normal function of proteins and enzymes; There is a lot of glutathione in human red blood cells, which is of great significance to protect the sulfhydryl group of protein on red blood cell membrane from reduction and hemolysis.
Food Additives Glutathione can play an unexpected role in food 1. When added to flour products, it can play a reducing role. It not only shortens the time of making bread to one-half or one-third of the original, greatly improves the working conditions, but also plays the role of strengthening food nutrition and other functions. 2. When it is added to yogurt and infant food, it is equivalent to Vitamin C and can play the role of stabilizer. 3. Mixing it in the fish cake can prevent the color from deepening [8]. 4. Added to meat products and cheese and other foods, with the effect of strengthening flavor.
