One-month pilot: liposomal glutathione by mouth raised blood glutathione in 12 adults
This 2018 pilot study gave 12 healthy adults liposomal glutathione by mouth at 500 or 1,000 mg a day for one month. Glutathione in blood rose within a week, peaked at two weeks, and markers of oxidative stress fell. The two doses did not differ, though the study was too small to tell them apart reliably.
What they did
Twelve healthy adults took liposomal glutathione, glutathione packaged in liposomes, tiny fat-based bubbles, at 500 mg or 1,000 mg a day for one month. The researchers measured glutathione in whole blood, red cells, plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (a group of white blood cells) at the start and after 1, 2 and 4 weeks, along with markers of oxidative stress and immune function.
What they found
Glutathione rose after one week. The largest increases came at two weeks: 40% in whole blood, 25% in red cells, 28% in plasma and 100% in the white blood cells. Plasma 8-isoprostane, a marker of oxidative damage, fell by 35%, and the ratio of oxidised to reduced glutathione fell by 20%.
Immune markers also changed. Natural killer cell activity rose by up to 400% by two weeks and lymphocyte growth by up to 60%. There were no differences between the two doses, but the authors note the small sample limited the study's power.
What it can't tell us
This was a pilot with 12 people, and the abstract describes no placebo group, so the changes are compared with starting levels only. One month is short. Glutathione was measured in blood, not cartilage, and the participants were healthy adults whose ages are not given.
The study was funded by a company that supplies liposomal glutathione, which also provided the product, according to the authors' declared interests.
Why it matters
Along with Richie 2015, this is part of the evidence that glutathione taken by mouth can raise blood levels when taken daily, here using a liposomal form and over a shorter time. It is preliminary, and the authors describe it that way. It does not test whether liposomal glutathione does better than standard oral glutathione or than its building blocks.
The paper
- Sinha R, Sinha I, Calcagnotto A et al. Oral supplementation with liposomal glutathione elevates body stores of glutathione and markers of immune function. Eur J Clin Nutr 2018.
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