Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2011 Dec;17(12):CR677-82.
doi: 10.12659/msm.882125.

A clinical trial of glutathione supplementation in autism spectrum disorders

Janet K Kern  1 , David A Geier, James B Adams, Carolyn R Garver, Tapan Audhya, Mark R Geier
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

A clinical trial of glutathione supplementation in autism spectrum disorders

Janet K Kern et al. Med Sci Monit. 2011 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Recent evidence shows that subjects diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have significantly lower levels of glutathione than typically developing children. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of two commonly used glutathione supplements in subjects diagnosed with an ASD to determine their efficacy in increasing blood glutathione levels in subjects diagnosed with an ASD.

Material/methods: The study was an eight-week, open-label trial using oral lipoceutical glutathione (n=13) or transdermal glutathione (n=13) in children, 3-13 years of age, with a diagnosis of an ASD. Subjects underwent pre- and post-treatment lab testing to evaluate plasma reduced glutathione, oxidized glutathione, cysteine, taurine, free and total sulfate, and whole-blood glutathione levels.

Results: The oral treatment group showed significant increases in plasma reduced glutathione, but not whole-blood glutathione levels following supplementation. Both the oral and transdermal treatment groups showed significant increases in plasma sulfate, cysteine, and taurine following supplementation.

Conclusions: The results suggest that oral and transdermal glutathione supplementation may have some benefit in improving some of the transsulfuration metabolites. Future studies among subjects diagnosed with an ASD should further explore the pharmacokinetics of glutathione supplementation and evaluate the potential effects of glutathione supplementation upon clinical symptoms.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Transsulfuration pathway.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sen CK. Nutritional biochemistry of cellular glutathione. J Nutr Biochem. 1997;8:660–72.
    1. Gutman J. Glutathione – Your Bodies Most Powerful Protector. 3rd Edition. Montreal: Communications kudo.ca Inc; 2002.
    1. Kipp A, Banning A, Brigelius-Flohe R. Activation of the glutathione peroxidase 2 (GPx2) promoter by beta-catenin. Biologic Chem. 2007;388:1027–33. - PubMed
    1. Millman AC, Salman M, Dayaram YK, et al. Natural killer cells, glutathione, cytokines, and innate immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Interferon Cytokine Res. 2008;28:153–65. - PubMed
    1. Geier DA, Kern JK, Garver CR, et al. A prospective study of transsulfuration biomarkers in autistic disorders. Neurochem Res. 2009;34:386–93. - PubMed

Publication types