N-Acetyl Cysteine Restores the Diminished Activity of the Antioxidant Enzymatic System Caused by SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Preliminary Findings

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 infects type II pneumocytes and disrupts redox homeostasis by overproducing reactive oxygen species (ROS). N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is a precursor of the synthesis of glutathione (GSH) and it restores the loss of redox homeostasis associated to viral infections. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of the treatment with NAC on the enzymatic antioxidant system in serum from patients infected by SARS-CoV-2. We evaluated the enzymatic activities of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), -S-transferase (GST), and reductase (GR) by spectrophotometry and the concentrations of the glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), thiols, nitrites (NO2–), and lipid peroxidation (LPO) in serum. The activity of the extracellular super oxide dismutase (ecSOD) was determined by native polyacrylamide gels, and 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) was measured by ELISA. A decrease in the activities of the ecSOD, TrxR, GPx, GST GR, (p = 0 ≤ 0.1), and the GSH, TAC, thiols, and NO2– (p ≤ 0.001) concentrations and an increase in LPO and 3-NT (p = 0.001) concentrations were found in COVID-19 patients vs. healthy subjects. The treatment with NAC as an adjuvant therapy may contribute to a reduction in the OS associated to the infection by SARS-CoV-2 through the generation of GSH. GSH promotes the metabolic pathways that depend on it, thus contributing to an increase in TAC and to restore redox homeostasis.