Sulforaphane increases glutathione in both the plasma and brain in individuals with autism.
"It has effects on increasing glutathione in the plasma, in the brain, those sorts of positive therapeutic effects that have been seen in people with autism." (said at 1:32:16)
A clinical pilot study demonstrated that oral sulforaphane increased blood glutathione and elevated brain glutathione (measured via 7-Tesla magnetic resonance spectroscopy in regions including the thalamus and cortex) in healthy human subjects, not in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. While clinical trials of sulforaphane in individuals with autism have evaluated behavioral improvements via proposed antioxidant and Nrf2 pathways, direct increases in brain glutathione have not been established in that specific population.
- context: Sulforaphane Augments Glutathione and Influences Brain Metabolites in Human Subjects: A Cl… (Molecular neuropsychiatry 2018)
"We found that the naturally occurring isothiocyanate sulforaphane increased blood GSH levels in healthy human subjects following 7 days of daily oral administration. In parallel, we explored the potential influence of sulforaphane on brain GSH levels in the anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and thalamus via 7-T magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A significant positive correlation between blood and thalamic GSH post- and pre-sulforaphane treatment ratios was observed, in addition to a consistent increase in brain GSH levels in response to treatment." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)