A Review on Various Uses of N-Acetyl Cysteine

Mokhtari, Vida; Afsharian, Parvaneh; Shahhoseini, Maryam; Kalantar, Seyed Mehdi; Moini, Ashraf

A Review on Various Uses of N-Acetyl Cysteine

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

¹ Department of Molecular Cytogenetics, Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran;Department of Genetics, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reprodu

² Department of Genetics, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran

³ Department of Molecular Cytogenetics, Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

⁴ Department of Endocrinology and Female Infertility, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran;4Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Roointan-Arash Ho

Abstract

N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), as a nutritional supplement, is a greatly applied antioxidant in vivo and in vitro. NAC is a precursor of L-cysteine that results in glutathione elevation biosynthesis. It acts directly as a scavenger of free radicals, especially oxygen radicals. NAC is a powerful antioxidant. It is also recommended as a potential treatment option for different disorders resulted from generation of free oxygen radicals. Additionally, it is a protected and endured mucolytic drug that mellows tenacious mucous discharges. It has been used for treatment of various diseases in a direct action or in a combination with some other medications. This paper presents a review on various applications of NAC in treatment of several diseases.

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