Small partners concerned about whitening ingredients, “glutathione” must not be unfamiliar, it is one of the most widely used whitening ingredients.
Whether it is skin care products, or whitening needles, whitening pills, health food, you can see its figure.
In the business promotion, “GSH” can remove free radicals, antioxidant, anti-aging, whitening, freckle, almost omnipotent, these propaganda in the end is not credible? Is it really that amazing?
What is glutathione?
Glutathione exists widely in animals, plants and microorganisms, and is one of the most important non-protein sulfhydryl compounds in living organisms.
It has reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG).
Reduced glutathione (GSH), which is abundant and plays a major role in living organisms, is involved in the REDOX reaction in cells and is a coenzyme of some enzymes.
GSH prevents 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, found inside water-filled cells, it protects DNA from oxidation.
GSH is present in the body in two forms, a reduced form and an oxidized form.
Spinach contains glutathione.
Reduced glutathione (GSH) plays an important role in the human body and is widely used in the treatment of liver diseases, tumors, oxygen poisoning, aging and endocrine diseases.
In the food industry, it is often used as a bioactive additive and antioxidant.
Glutathione is ubiquitous in the human body and is the main “killer” of free radicals in the human body.
When ultraviolet light shines on the skin, a large number of free radicals produced, which activates the melanin production mechanism.
GSH kills these free radicals, preventing melanin production from the front end.
GSH can inhibit the activity of rosinase and regulate the transition mechanism from eumelanin to phaeomelanin production.
Glutathione is widely involved in all aspects of melanin production, which can eliminate free radicals, antioxidants, whiten skin, fade dark spots, and anti-aging effects.
The literature on these effects of GSH is extensive and easy to find.
Biological function
Glutathione exists in reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) states.
The ratio of reduced to oxidized glutathione in the cell is a measure of cellular oxidative stress, where an increased ratio of GSSG to GSH indicates greater oxidative stress.
In the reduced state, thiol groups of cysteinyl residues are a source of reducing equivalents.
The resulting oxidizing state of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) converted to a reducing state (GSH) by NADPH.
The conversion catalyzed by glutathione reductase
NADPH + GSSG + H2O → 2 GSH + NADP+ + OH−
Clinical application
Glutathione (GSH) is a tripeptide compound containing sulfhydryl groups. It composed of glutamic acid, cysteine and glycine, of which cysteine the rate-limiting substance for glutathione production. Sufficient supplementation of cysteine helps to increase the body’s GSH.
GSH has important physiological activities such as activating REDOX system, activating sulfhydrase and detoxification in human body.
Widely distributed in various organs of the human body, it mainly plays a role in maintaining cell biological functions and protecting the integrity of cell membranes.
It has clinically used in the treatment and adjuvant therapy of a variety of diseases, including chemotherapy patients, radiotherapy patients, various hypoxemia, liver disease antidrug toxicity and so on.
Seeing this, many small partners may say that GSH so powerful, no wonder it widely used.
The stability of glutathione
Although the effect of “reduced glutathione” is powerful, it has a fatal disadvantage, that is, it is afraid of light, afraid of water, afraid of high temperature, and poor stability.
“Reduced glutathione” dissolved in an aqueous solution can only stored for 2 hours at room temperature, and only 8 hours at 0 ~ 5 ° C.
Reduced glutathione used in medicine as a drug, either subcutaneously or intravenously, in freeze-dried powder form.
Powder ampoules, whether transported or stored, must refrigerated or frozen.
Dissolve before use, use first and mix first to fully maintain its activity and effectiveness.
Whitening effect
Glutathione can directly inhibit tyrosinase activity, while sweeping up a large number of oxidizing free radicals,
prevent free radicals from activating tyrosinase, and can hydrolyze to cysteine, interfering with melanin synthesis.
In other words, in the process of whitening, it has the dual effect of “antioxidant” + “inhibition” at the same time.
GSH is also a small peptide with a molecular weight of 307 Daltons (molecules larger than 500 Daltons cannot cross the skin barrier).
This means that GSH applied to the skin can absorbed by the skin.
It is also the own antioxidant component in human cells,
which is easier to “fool” the defense layer and easier to enter the body.
Some small partners in the medical beauty injection, if the core ingredient of the whitening needle reduced glutathione,
as long as not dissolved before the glutathione powder injection,
already prepared in advance of the “whitening needle”, GSH has oxidized little remains, it is difficult to play a role.
Reduced glutathione added in cosmetics, as long as it added to toners, serums, lotions, creams,
difficult to maintain long-term activity, will soon oxidized and decomposed, and when consumers use it, it has no value.
Most of the reduced glutathione in whitening pills and health foods has preserved in the form of powder, which has a longer shelf life.
Whether reduced glutathione can stored at room temperature for a long time, I have not found the relevant literature.
For reference, GSH used to treat diseases needs to refrigerated or frozen, and its activity must decay faster at room temperature.
When oral GSH enters the body, its bioavailability is extremely low.
The effects of oral GSH on the human body are highly controversial.
“Glutathione” is an excellent ingredient with a wide range of applications.
Scavenging free radicals, anti-oxidation, whitening, light spots have a good effect.
Glutathione’s poor stability limits its effectiveness.
There many cosmetics with “glutathione” added, but most of them cannot play their original role.