Whitning Glutathione in Cosmetics

Description

Glutathione is an important antioxidant in plants, animals, fungi, and some bacteria and archaea, preventing damage to important cellular components caused by reactive oxygen species such as free radicals, peroxides, lipid peroxides and heavy metals. It is a tripeptide with a gamma peptide linkage between the carboxyl group of the glutamate side-chain and the amine group of cysteine (which is attached by normal peptide linkage to a glycine).
Glutathione reduces disulfide bonds formed within cytoplasmic proteins to cysteines by serving as an electron donor. In the process, glutathione is converted to its oxidized form, glutathione disulfide (GSSG), also called L-(-)-glutathione.
While all cells in the human body are capable of synthesizing glutathione, liver glutathione synthesis has been shown to be essential. Mice with genetically induced loss of GCLC (i.e., GSH synthesis) only in the liver die within a month of birth.