From the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health on the potential efficacy of N-acetyl cysteine in recent respiratory illnesses.
N-acetylcysteine has recently been suggested as an adjunctive therapy to the standard care for SARS-CoV-2 infection considering the favorable risk and benefit ratio and its effects on synthesizing glutathione, improving immune function, and modulating inflammatory response.32–34 It achieves the therapeutic effects through two main activities: 1) mucolytic action conferred by the free sulfhydryl group which reduces disulfide bonds in the cross-linked mucus glycoproteins matrix, thus decreasing the viscosity of mucus; 2) antioxidative action attributable to a direct interaction with free radicals, an indirect effect as a precursor to cysteine which is required for glutathione biosynthesis, and a replenishment of thiol pools that is central to redox regulation and control.35 In light of these properties, we hypothesize that N-acetylcysteine plays a role in the treatment of COVID-19 infection by the following postulated mechanisms of action (Figure 1):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8274825/
While this research suggests NAC helps synthesizing glutathione, most adults are lacking in glutathione, so we suggest a good source of glutathione to supplement the existing levels. Please see our Terry Naturally glutathione. It is taken sublingually, slowly to enhance uptake.
