ABSTRACT
There has been consistent interest in developing pharmacological approaches to manipulate thiol and redox pathways, particularly with respect to possible cancer treatments. For many years N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) has been used as a means of reversing the hepatotoxicity of acetaminophen and as an inhalant mucolytic agent (Mucomyst) in the management of a number of lung diseases. This molecule is essentially designed to provide a biologically available and nontoxic form of the amino acid cysteine. As might be expected, the thiol acts as a nucleophile in scavenging electrophilic metabolites of acetaminophen and assists in minimizing disulfide bond formation in proteins in the mucus membranes of the lung. Manipulation of blood glutathione (GSH) levels by using NAC has also been shown to
effect immune responses and has been applied to the management of HIV-infected patients.
