Antioxidant-Glutathione

Glutathione is a polypeptide containing cysteine, which exists in most aerobic organisms. It cannot be ingested from the diet but is synthesized from the corresponding amino acids in the cell. Since the sulfhydryl group on cysteine is reductive and can be reduced after oxidation, glutathione has an antioxidant function. In the cell, glutathione is oxidized or directly oxidized by some metabolites and enzymes such as ascorbate, glutathione peroxidase, and glutaredoxin in the Glutathione-ascorbate cycle (Glutathione-ascorbate cycle). After reacting with some oxidizing substances, it can be reduced to a reduced state by glutathione reductase (glutathione reductase). In view of its high concentration in the cell and its central role in the redox state of the cell, glutathione is one of the most important cellular antioxidants. In some organisms, glutathione will be replaced by other sulfhydryl-containing polypeptides, such as mycothiol (AcCys-GlcN-Ins) in actinomycetes, and bacillithiol (Cys-GlcN-Ins) in gram-positive bacteria. mal) substitution, in the kinetic body by Trypanothione (Trypanothione).