Efficacy of glutathione therapy in relieving dyspnea associated with COVID-19 pneumonia: A report of 2 cases.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Case series of two patients without a control group
PubMed 32322478 · doi:10.1016/j.rmcr.2020.101063
What was done
Case series evaluating the clinical response to high-dose oral and/or intravenous glutathione (initial 2 g dose, followed by repeated 2000 mg doses) in 2 patients in New York City presenting with cough, dyspnea, radiological evidence of COVID-19 pneumonia, and a history of Lyme and tick-borne co-infections.
What was found
Both patients experienced improvement in dyspnea within 1 hour after receiving 2 g of PO or IV glutathione. Repeated doses of 2000 mg PO and IV glutathione were reported to further relieve respiratory symptoms. No objective numerical values (such as oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, or inflammatory biomarkers) are reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
This report proposes glutathione as a candidate supportive therapy for COVID-19-associated respiratory distress, providing an anecdotal hypothesis for future controlled trials.
Limits
The report is restricted to an uncontrolled, unblinded sample of only 2 patients with specific comorbidities (Lyme and tick-borne co-infections), precluding generalization. The abstract provides no objective physiological measurements, comparator group, or safety data, making it impossible to separate the intervention effect from placebo response or spontaneous symptom fluctuation.
Cited by
- supports Richard Horowitz published the first article in world medical literature on glutathione's efficacy in COVID-19 in April 2020.