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
. 2013 May;19(5):459-63.
doi: 10.1089/acm.2011.0673. Epub 2012 Dec 16.

Safety survey of intranasal glutathione

Laurie K Mischley  1 , Marco F Vespignani, John S Finnell
Affiliations

Safety survey of intranasal glutathione

Laurie K Mischley et al. J Altern Complement Med. 2013 May.

Abstract

Purpose: Glutathione depletion has been documented in several disease states, and exogenous administration has been hypothesized to have therapeutic potential for some conditions. In an effort to reach target tissues of the sinuses and central nervous system (CNS), glutathione is being prescribed as an intranasal spray, although no literature exists to support this mode of administration. The objective of this study was to describe patient-reported outcomes in a population of individuals who have been prescribed intranasal reduced glutathione, (in)GSH.

Methods: A survey was designed to assess individuals' perception of tolerability, adverse events, and health benefits associated with (in)GSH use. Using a pharmacy database, 300 individuals were randomly selected to receive a survey; any individual who had received one or more prescriptions for (in)GSH between March 2009 and March 2011 was eligible for participation.

Results: Seventy (70) individuals returned the survey (23.3% response rate) from 20 different states. Reported indications for (in)GSH prescriptions were multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) (n=29), allergies/sinusitis (n=25), Parkinson disease (PD) (n=7), Lyme disease (n=3), fatigue (n=2), and other (n=10). Of the respondents, 78.8% (n=52) reported an overall positive experience with (in)GSH, 12.1% (n=8) reported having experienced adverse effects, and 62.1% (n=41) reported having experienced health benefits attributable to (in)GSH use. Over 86% of respondents considered the nasal spray to be comfortable and easy to administer.

Conclusions: This is the first study to evaluate patient-reported outcomes among individuals across the country who have been prescribed (in)GSH. The majority of survey respondents considered (in)GSH to be effective and without significant adverse effects. (in)GSH should be further evaluated as a method of treating respiratory and CNS diseases where free-radical burden is a suspected contributor to disease progression.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Reported indications for use of intranasal reduced glutathione [(in)GSH], presented as percent (%) of individuals surveyed. MCS, multiple chemical sensitivity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mueller SG. Trabesinger AH. Boesiger P. Wieser HG. Brain glutathione levels in patients with epilepsy measured by in vivo (1)H-MRS. Neurology. 2001;57:1422–1427. - PubMed
    1. Prousky J. The treatment of pulmonary diseases and respiratory-related conditions with inhaled (nebulized or aerosolized) glutathione. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2008;5:27–35. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schulz JB. Lindenau J. Seyfried J. Dichgans J. Glutathione, oxidative stress and neurodegeneration. Eur J Biochem FEBS. 2000;267:4904–4911. - PubMed
    1. Wu G. Fang YZ. Yang S, et al. Glutathione metabolism and its implications for health. J Nutr. 2004;134:489–492. - PubMed
    1. Sims NR. Nilsson M. Muyderman H. Mitochondrial glutathione: A modulator of brain cell death. J Bioenerg Biomembr. 2004;36:329–333. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms