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GuHuman trials

Glutathione protocol

Glutathione is a small antioxidant your body makes. Human studies mostly used oral, IV or nasal forms. Injectable glutathione is not an FDA-approved medicine.

No FDA-approved injectable glutathione medicine for anti-aging or skin lighteningOral supplement studied for 6 months
ProtocolMixingResultsSide effectsHow it worksSources

The protocol at a glance

No standard injection dose is proven. Human trials used oral capsules, IV drips or nasal sprays at quite different amounts.

Route studiedAmount in the human trial
Oral250 or 1,000 mg a day for 6 months (54 adults)
IV (Parkinson's)1,400 mg 3 times a week for 4 weeks (21 people)
Nasal spray (Parkinson's)100 or 200 mg 3 times a day for 3 months (45 people)
Under the skin or muscleNo human trial found

From Richie JP et al. Eur J Nutr 2015, Hauser RA et al. Mov Disord 2009 and Mischley LK et al. J Parkinsons Dis 2017. These are trial schedules, not labels.

Community reports

Clinic practice and community posts often use 100 to 200 mg injections about three times a week. This is practice, not trial-backed.

What people say they do, collected from community discussions. Not tested in a trial; shown so you can compare it with the evidence above.

Mixing

No mixing table here: this one is used as a capsule, nasal spray or skin product, or has no human amount to calculate from. The general mixing calculator works for any vial.

What the trials found

Oral trial: 54 non-smoking adults, 6 months. Change in glutathione levels versus start:

+30-35%red cells, plasma and lymphocytes at 1,000 mg/day
+17%blood at 250 mg/day
0trials showing better aging outcomes

Richie JP et al. Eur J Nutr 2015 (PubMed 24791752). In Parkinson's trials, neither IV nor nasal glutathione beat placebo.

Side effects

  • IV trial: well tolerated, side effects similar to placebo, in only 21 people.
  • Nasal trial: one person on the high dose developed cardiomyopathy.
  • The FDA has warned that injectable glutathione for skin lightening is unapproved and that no published trials back it.

How it works

Antioxidant

It is the body's main antioxidant. Oral supplements raised its levels in blood; whether that helps aging is not shown.

Sources

  • Richie JP et al. Randomized controlled trial of oral glutathione supplementation on body stores of glutathione. Eur J Nutr 2015
  • Hauser RA et al. Randomized, double-blind, pilot evaluation of intravenous glutathione in Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord 2009
  • Mischley LK et al. Phase IIb study of intranasal glutathione in Parkinson's disease. J Parkinsons Dis 2017
  • FDA warning on injectable skin-lightening products (as reported by Philippine news outlets and U.S. trade press, 2019)