Supplementation with a putative calorie restriction mimetic micronutrient blend increases glutathione concentrations and improves neuroenergetics in brain of healthy middle-aged men and women

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Glutathione.

The purpose of the present randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was to use Proton (1H) Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic (MRS) measurements to determine non-invasively whether a blend of micronutrients, a putative CR mimetic, positively modulates metabolites related to neuroprotection and neuroenergetics in the brain.

At baseline and 6 weeks, subjects underwent MRS at 3 T to investigate changes in brain chemistry, including the neurometabolites: GSH, Glutamate (Glu), Glutamine (Gln) and N-Acetylaspartate (NAA).

Why It Was Studied

Thus, there is an unmet need for nutritional supplements which can mimic the biological effects of CR, without the need for calorie limitations.

Who Took Part

The study group was 33 women.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

Healthy middle-aged men and women (N = 63 [33 women]; age: 40-60 years) were randomized in a double-blind manner to 6 weeks supplementation with either the putative CR mimetic or placebo.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

The women were allocated by chance, so the Glutathione group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Blinding on both sides kept the women and researchers unaware of who received Glutathione.

Some women received a placebo instead of Glutathione, giving a reference point.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Brain, Caloric Restriction, Dietary Supplements, Glutathione and Micronutrients.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Glutathione in 33 women.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2020 (Free radical biology & medicine), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Glutathione compound page, all human trials.