Bypassing the bottleneck: Gamma-glutamylcysteine supplementation for brain glutathione enrichment in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major neurodegenerative disorder affecting more than 7 million Americans. Extensive studies have identified various factors associated with the development of AD, but the actual cause remains unknown. Transgenic mouse model and human studies strongly indicate that oxidative stress precedes amyloid-β plaque formation and tau phosphorylation in AD. GSH loss itself raises the Abeta42/Abeta40 ratio and promotes tau aggregation [5], placing GSH depletion upstream of classical AD pathology. Subsequently, the role of the master antioxidant, glutathione (GSH), came into focus for brain GSH level enrichment through supplementation with γ-glutamylcysteine (GGC), the immediate precursor of GSH. We present that GGC has an excellent safety record and bioavailability. GGC is a strong candidate to investigate for brain GSH enrichment (target engagement hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex etc.) and subsequent cognitive enhancement for patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).