Glutathione: synthesis, mechanism of action, antioxidant and detoxifying role

Abstract

Annotation. Under the conditions of entry of toxic substances into the body and activation of redox processes, compounds of natural origin with antioxidant properties are widely used to correct metabolic disorders. The purpose of the work is to conduct an analysis and systematization of basic and modern scientific sources of literature on the role of the glutathione system in the development of pathologies. For the scientific review, data from the scientometric databases PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Google Scholar, etc. were used, and the analysis of scientific textbooks and monographs was carried out. Among water-soluble antioxidants, low- and high-molecular compounds containing SH-groups are popular in medicine, mono-, di- and tricarboxylic acids and other anions. Glutathione, a thiol-containing tripeptide, is the main endogenous non-enzymatic antioxidant that exerts cytoprotective and detoxifying properties. Various epithelial cells – enterocytes, endotheliocytes, alveolar cells of the lungs, epithelium of the proximal renal tubules, absorb and use glutathione most intensively, in particular, taken orally, so the idea of using glutathione in diseases of organs that actively participate in detoxification processes: kidneys, liver, lungs, as well as under the conditions of systemic diseases accompanied by endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress – diabetes, atherosclerosis, nephropathy. Under physiological conditions, the body maintains a dynamic balance between the content of oxidants, which stimulate the processes of free radical oxidation of biomolecules, and the activity of antioxidant systems. But under the conditions of damage to any link of the living system, increased formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inhibition of antioxidant systems contributes to the activation of free radical oxidation processes, the intensity of which depends on the concentration of oxygen in the tissues and on the enzymatic and non-enzymatic systems of antioxidant protection, which prevents the destruction of cells by active forms of oxygen.