Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Can Glutathione Make Your Skin Whiter?


Before I answer that question, let me state this idea first before I give my answer to that query. Before a certain drug can exert its effect on the intended region of the body it must be well absorbed. Well absorbed means that a certain minimum level of the drug concentration must pass to the blood stream and go to the site of action. Sometimes, the effect of a certain chemical must work with some molecules found in the body to create the desired effect or vice versa.
In the case of oral absorption (pills, capsules, tablets etc.,), I am sorry but at the moment it can’t reach the desired concentration to the blood stream. However, IV administration is possible.
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutathione under the header of supplementation “Raising GSH levels through direct supplementation of glutathione is difficult. Research suggests that glutathione taken orally is not well absorbed across the gastrointestinal tract. In a study of acute oral administration of a very large dose (3 grams) of oral glutathione, Witschi and coworkers found "it is not possible to increase circulating glutathione to a clinically beneficial extent by the oral administration of a single dose of 3 g of glutathione."[23][24] -- This means that oral administration is not possible at the moment, unless they found a new way of protecting the Glutathione from the GIT tract.
In the case of Glutathione as an effective whitening agent. Yes, the study appears to have an effect.
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutathione “Glutathione has recently been used as an inhibitor of melanin in the cosmetics industry. In countries like Japan and the Philippines, this product is sold as a whitening soap. Glutathione competitively inhibits melanin synthesis in the reaction of tyrosinase and L-DOPA by interrupting L-DOPA's ability to bind to tyrosinase during melanin synthesis. The inhibition of melanin synthesis was reversed by increasing the concentration of L-DOPA, but not by increasing tyrosinase. Although the synthesized melanin was aggregated within 1 h, the aggregation was inhibited by the addition of glutathione. These results indicate that glutathione inhibits the synthesis and agglutination of melanin by interrupting the function of L-DOPA." The entire study will be seen in this address http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/yakushi/128/8/1203/_pdf/-char/ja/
Can a whitening agent be delivered using soaps? The answer is probably no. Unless they have an evidence that the right concentration of the medicine is being absorbed on the skin.
Soaps are cleansers; it will remove both oil and dirt on the skin including any other material in contact with it. Sorry, this is not the best medium to deliver this medicine at the moment. 


                         Chemical Formula of Glutathione

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