N‐Acetyl Cysteine Is Associated With Dopaminergic Improvement in Parkinson's Disease
Abstract
This study assessed the biological and clinical effects in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) of N‐acetyl‐cysteine (NAC), the prodrug to l‐cysteine, a precursor to the natural biological antioxidant glutathione. Forty‐two patients with PD were randomized to either weekly intravenous infusions of NAC (50 mg/kg) plus oral doses (500 mg twice per day) for 3 months or standard of care only. Participants received prebrain and postbrain imaging with ioflupane (DaTscan) to measure dopamine transporter (DAT) binding. In the NAC group, significantly increased DAT binding was found in the caudate and putamen (mean increase from 3.4% to 8.3%) compared with controls (P < 0.05), along with significantly improved PD symptoms (P < 0.0001). The results suggest NAC may positively affect the dopaminergic system in patients with PD, with corresponding positive clinical effects. Larger scale studies are warranted.
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In recent study, 42 PD patients intravenously infused with NAC (50 mg/kg) plus oral NAC (500 mg twice a day) for 3 months showed improvement in dopamine transporter binding (cca 3.5-8.3%), suggesting NAC has positive clinical effects and improved symptoms.
“In a very recent study, 42 patients with PD were intravenously infused with NAC (50 mg/kg) plus taking NAC orally (500 mg twice a day) for 3 months. Dopamine transporter binding was evaluated by using DaTscan imaging (DTscan is a radiopharmaceutical used in a brain scan (SPECT), to visualize striatal dopamine transporters). Improvement in dopamine transporter binding (cca 3.5–8.3%) suggests that N”
From Reactive Oxygen Species, Toxicity, Oxidative Stress, and Antioxidants: Chronic Diseases and Aging (2023) · cites this paper as Monti et al. 2019
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References 51 · Cited by 121
- Authors
- Monti, D. A., Zabrecky, G., Kremens, D., Liang, T., Wintering, N. A., Bazzan, A. J., Zhong, L., Bowens, B. K., Chervoneva, I., Intenzo, C., & Newberg, A. B.
- Affiliations
- Thomas Jefferson University (US)
- Marcus Institute of Integrative Health Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
- Corresponding author
- Newberg, Andrew B.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-07-17
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 884-890
- ISSN
- 0009-9236 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-6535
- OpenAlex
- W2950221893
- Cited by
- 121
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 9.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Neurological disorders and treatments
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Nuclear Receptors and Signaling
- Keywords
- N-acetylcysteine, Parkinson's disease, dopamine transporter binding, DaTSCAN, glutathione precursor, antioxidant therapy, dopaminergic system, caudate nucleus, putamen, symptom improvement, intravenous infusion
- MeSH terms
- Acetylcysteine, Administration, Oral, Aged, Antioxidants, Female, Humans, Infusions, Intravenous, Male, Parkinson Disease, Putamen, Treatment Outcome, Drug Monitoring, Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins, Functional Neuroimaging, Symptom Assessment
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