Responding to the reader
Are glutathione supplements effective?
AHFMR researcher Dr. Elaine Leslie provides some answers.
Story by Connie Bryson/Illustration by Genevieve Simms
About this feature
AHFMR frequently receives letters requesting information about Heritage research or about various medical conditions. "Responding to the reader" is a Research News feature intended to provide up-to-date information related to readers' questions, with the help of experts in the Alberta research community. AHFMR cannot provide medical advice, however; please consult your family physician about your specific health concerns.
You don't have to look very hard for websites that tout the benefits of taking glutathione as a dietary supplement. If you believe the hype, glutathione supplements can slow down aging, help you lose weight, lower blood pressure, and treat a host of conditions including infertility, cancer, cataracts, and Alzheimer's disease.
Time for a reality check, says AHFMR Scholar Dr. Elaine Leslie, who does research on glutathione at the University of Alberta. While she agrees that glutathione is a very important molecule-it is found in all our cells, where it acts as a mop for neutralizing toxins-there's a catch when it comes to glutathione supplementation. "We have a lot of glutathione in our cells; our cells can synthesize it, and there's no need for more," she says. "And besides, glutathione that we eat is not absorbed well across the digestive tract."
Dr. Leslie notes, however, that in certain situations the stores of glutathione in our cells become depleted. This happens, for example, in one of the most common poisonings worldwide: acetaminophen (e.g.,Tylenol) overdose. In such cases, patients are treated with a form of glutathione that is more easily absorbed than glutathione itself, allowing its production to return to normal.
In her research, Dr. Leslie studies how toxins are processed in, and removed from, cells. Her major interest is arsenic, a heavy metal that occurs naturally in soil. It can be found in high concentrations in tailings, the materials left over after mining certain ores, including gold. Arsenic causes many problems associated with groundwater contamination, especially in developing nations. Worldwide, millions of people are exposed to concentrations of arsenic in drinking water that exceed the World Health Organization standard.
Glutathione and arsenic form a compound that is more easily excreted from cells than arsenic on its own. But it's not known exactly how this happens. In her post-doctoral research, Dr. Leslie identified an enzyme that is involved in the formation of the compound, and some of her current research follows up on this finding.
"Right now this is basic research," says Dr. Leslie. "We still need to understand exactly how arsenic interacts with glutathione and enzymes. But if we find that a certain enzyme is key to the formation of the arsenic-glutathione compound, this could be a route to making detoxification happen more quickly."
Genetic differences in the production of the enzyme could make some people more susceptible to arsenic poisoning than others. Further knowledge on this subject could be very important in the field of cancer treatment: Arsenic trioxide is used in some types of chemotherapies. Early identification of patients who are particularly susceptible to arsenic toxicity would allow physicians to choose a different treatment.
The study of membranes
Dr. Elaine Leslie is a member of a large group of researchers at the University of Alberta who share an interest in membranes-the borders that enclose cells. Established in 1991, the Membrane Protein Research Group now has 13 faculty members, 30 graduate students, 13 postdoctoral fellows, and 18 technicians and research associates.
Why study membranes? To the group's director, AHFMR Scientist Dr. Joe Casey, the answer is obvious: "Membranes are the dividing line between life and death. Life goes on inside the cell; there's no life outside the cell. Membranes control what goes into the cell and what comes out of it, they also pass information into the cell."
The group investigates transporters of different molecules and ions across membranes, protein movements across membranes, protein folding, and the role of membrane-associated proteins in controlling cell growth and cellular communication. Their research has implications for a wide range of conditions, including heart disease, cancer, eye diseases, kidney diseases, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and Alzheimer's disease.
"And that's just a sampling," notes Dr. Casey. "The list is so long because any dysfunction in membrane structure or function has serious consequences for the normal functioning of cells and can lead to disease."
AHFMR Scientist Dr. Joe Casey is a full professor in the departments of Physiology and Biochemistry, part of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta.