# Trial of GlyNAC in Older Adults with COVID-19: Glutathione, Inflammation and Recovery

> **NIH NIH R01** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $520,848

## Abstract

The global pandemic caused by the novel Coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 results in COVID-19 and is associated with a very high
mortality rate ranging from 3% (in USA) to 14% (in Italy) Increased age is identified as a high-risk group for COVID-19
due to significantly high mortality in older adults (OA). It is not clear why COVID-19 is associated with high mortality, but
emerging evidence from hospitalized patients has identified a `cytokine storm' with severely elevated inflammatory
cytokines (especially IL-6) as a potential contributor. Increased inflammation in patients with COVID-19 is reported to
correlate negatively with peripheral lymphocyte populations, and contributes to immune dysfunction. We have studied aging
for >20 years, and found that correcting the deficiency of the endogenous antioxidant protein glutathione (GSH) is critically
important to lower inflammation, elevated oxidative stress (OxS) and impaired mitochondrial fatty-acid oxidation (MFO)
in OA. GSH is the most abundant endogenous, intracellular, antioxidant protein and functions by protecting cells from toxic
OxS generated during mitochondrial energy production. OA are deficient in GSH. We have identified and validated an
effective, simple and safe nutritional intervention called GlyNAC (combination of GSH precursors glycine and NAC-N-
acetylcysteine) to correct GSH deficiency in OA. GSH is identified as a potential candidate to combat COVID-19, but has
not been studied in OA with COVID-19.
We recently completed a 16-week NIH-funded double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial in OAwith
outcomes measured at 2-weeks and 16-weeks. GlyNAC supplementation for 14-days led to: (1) RBC-GSH ­40%; (2)
lowered inflammation; (3) lower OxS; (4) improved mitochondrial function.
In earlier pilot studies in OA we found that: (1) OA had striking GSH deficiency, elevated OxS and impaired MFO; (2)
GSH deficiency in OA occurs due to diminished synthesis, caused by decreased availability of its precursor amino-acids
glycine and cysteine, and can be improved by supplementing GlyNAC for 14-days [; (3) GlyNAC supplementation
improved inflammation, OxS , MFO, cognition and function.
These results are highly relevant to OA with COVID-19 because: (1) OA with COVID-19 have a high mortality risk; (2)
increased inflammation is associated with high mortality in COVID-19; (3) GSH is identified as a potential candidate to
combat COVID-19; (4) OA have GSH deficiency, chronic inflammation and cognitive impairment and GlyNAC corrects
these defects in OA; (5) GlyNAC has a strong safety profile in our trials; (6) GlyNAC, GSH and OxS have not been studied
in COVID-19. (7) GSH prevents replication of the influenza virus in rodents.
Based on these data, we propose an exploratory pilot randomized clinical trial to test the effect of supplementing GlyNAC
vs. placebo for 14-days in hospitalized in OA with COVID-19 to determine the impact on clinical improvement, recovery,
survival, cognition, function, inflammat...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10157755
- **Project number:** 3R01AG054131-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Rajagopal Viswanath Sekhar
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $520,848
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10157755

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10157755, Trial of GlyNAC in Older Adults with COVID-19: Glutathione, Inflammation and Recovery (3R01AG054131-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10157755. Licensed CC0.

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