Oral N-acetylcysteine reduces plasma homocysteine concentrations regardless of lipid or smoking status.

What this study found

Four weeks of NAC lowered plasma total homocysteine, improved intracellular glutathione redox balance, and reduced blood pressure, with effects seen regardless of lipid status or smoking. The time-by-treatment effect on homocysteine was significant (P = 0.001), and NAC-related reductions were significant in the normolipidemic, hyperlipidemic, nonsmoking, and smoking subgroups (all P = 0.009 within NAC arms). NAC also increased total GSH, reduced GSSG, and increased the GSH:GSSG ratio (all significant), while systolic blood pressure fell overall (P < 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure also…

Study & population

Two parallel randomized placebo-controlled trials enrolled unmedicated middle-aged men in Heidelberg, Germany, with either hyperlipidemia or confirmed normolipidemia.

Intervention

Oral N-acetylcysteine (NAC) was given for 4 weeks at 1.8 g/day, administered as three 600 mg doses per day using 200 mg capsules.

Key limitation

The intervention lasted only 4 weeks and used a relatively small, male-only sample, limiting generalizability.

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