Glutathione Whitening, Topical or Oral?

by: GSHWORLD Time: 2023-05-05 Classify: Product News

Glutathione, a powerful antioxidant with additional anti-melanogenic properties, acts as a low molecular weight thiol tripeptide and is essential for maintaining intracellular redox balance.

Glutathione is widely used in skin whitening agents and is the most popular "systemic skin brightening molecule" in recent years.

Melanin in human skin is a polymer of various indole compounds synthesized from L-tyrosine.

The mechanism by which GSH inhibits melanogenesis is by inhibiting tyrosinase activity;

this is a well-known function of thiol compounds, including glutathione and cysteine.

Tyrosinase, the rate-limiting enzyme controlling melanin production, catalyzes the conversion of L-tyrosine supplied in the blood into 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine and then into dopaquinone.

Like glutathione, currently commonly used skin whitening kojic acid, arbutin, and hydroquinone have inhibitory effects on tyrosinase.

Globally, glutathione skin disease treatment drugs are mostly tablets, capsules, topical preparations and parenteral preparations, and most of the experimental studies are oral experiments.

A randomized, double-blind, two-arm, placebo-controlled study by Arjinpathana and Asawanonda in 60 healthy medical students showed sustained, statistically significant reductions in melanin index at all six sites assessed in subjects in the GSH group The reduction was greater than that of placebo at both sites.

Glutathione as an oral whitening agent: A randomized,double-blind, placebo-controlled study

An open-label, single-arm pilot study by Handog et al.

In 30 healthy Filipino women (aged 22-42 years) with Fitzpatrick type IV or V skin, using lozenges instead of GSH capsules, reported a significant reduction in melanin index in sun-exposed and sun-protected areas for all subjects, And in the global assessment, moderate skin lightening was observed in 90% of the subjects.

An open-label, single-arm trial of the safety and efficacy of a novel preparation of glutathione as a skin-lightening agent in Filipino women

In both studies, GSH was very well tolerated.

Glutathione has a variety of physiological effects.

Oral administration of GSH in humans reduces the production of melanin in the skin.

However, glutathione in aqueous solution is extremely unstable and easily decomposed.

In contrast, GSSG is not easily decomposed in aqueous solution and is suitable for use in liquid form, so it is mostly used for external use.

A combination of topical and oral glutathione may be superior to monotherapy.

*Special note - This article is for informational purposes only and cannot replace a doctor's treatment diagnosis and advice. It should not be regarded as a recommendation or proof of efficacy of the medical products involved. If it involves disease diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation, please be sure to go to a professional medical institution to seek professional advice.

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