Can glutathione whiten the skin? What is its purpose?
What is Glutathione?
Glutathione exists in two forms in the human body, one is the reduced form and the other is the oxidized form. Spinach contains glutathione.
Glutathione is an antioxidant found in plants, animals, fungi, as well as some bacteria and archaea. Glutathione can prevent damage to important cellular components from sources such as reactive oxygen species, free radicals, peroxides, lipid peroxides, and heavy metals.
As an antioxidant in animal cells, it exists inside cells filled with water and can protect DNA from oxidation.
Biological functions of glutathione
Glutathione exists in both reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) states. The ratio of intracellular reduced glutathione to oxidized glutathione is a measure of cellular oxidative stress, with an increase in the ratio of GSSG to GSH indicating greater oxidative stress.
In the reduced state, the thiol group of cysteine residues is a source of reducing equivalents.
Thus, the oxidized state of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) is converted to the reduced state (GSH) through NADPH.
This conversion is catalyzed by glutathione reductase, with NADPH+GSSG+H2O → 2 GSH+NADP++OH −
Clinical application of glutathione
Glutathione (GSH) is a tripeptide compound containing thiol groups, composed of glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine. Cysteine is the rate limiting substance for the production of glutathione, and supplementing sufficient cysteine can help improve the body's glutathione levels.
Glutathione has important physiological activities in the human body, such as activating the redox system, activating thiol enzymes, and detoxification.
Widely distributed in various organs of the human body, it mainly plays a role in maintaining cellular biological functions and protecting the integrity of cell membranes.
It is clinically applied in the treatment and adjuvant therapy of various diseases, including chemotherapy patients, radiotherapy patients, various hypoxemia, liver diseases, and drug toxicity relief.
Glutathione whitening effect
Glutathione can directly inhibit tyrosinase activity, while sweeping away a large amount of oxidative free radicals, preventing free radicals from activating tyrosinase, and hydrolyzing into cysteine, interfering with melanin synthesis. That is to say, during the whitening process, it has both "antioxidant" and "inhibitory" dual effects.
Glutathione is still a small molecule peptide with a molecular weight of 307 daltons (molecules larger than 500 daltons cannot cross the skin barrier). This means that glutathione applied to the skin can be absorbed by the skin. Moreover, it is also an inherent antioxidant component in human cells, making it easier to "trick" the defense layer and enter the body.
