Top 12 Health Benefits of N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) 13 Aug 2020 — Besides NAC’s impressive ability to protect your liver, NAC can also work throughout your body. That includes supporting the health of your brain, gut, and lungs.
N-acetylcysteine Protects Against Pulmonary Disease May 2010 — Forty years of clinical research confirm the power of N-acetylcysteine to protect against various forms of pulmonary disease. Unfortunately, pharmaceutical companies co-opted it years ago for use in patented drugs. Overlooked is the ability of this little-known nutrient to combat many of today’s leading causes of death.
The antioxidant N-acetylcysteine protects from lung emphysema but induces lung adenocarcinoma in mice October 3, 2019 — Oxidative stress is a major contributor to chronic lung diseases. Antioxidants such as N-acetylcysteine (NAC) are broadly viewed as protective molecules that prevent the mutagenic effects of reactive oxygen species. Antioxidants may, however, increase the risk of some forms of cancer and accelerate lung cancer progression in murine models. Here, we investigated chronic NAC treatment in aging mice displaying lung oxidative stress and cell senescence due to inactivation of the transcription factor JunD, which is downregulated in diseased human lungs. NAC treatment decreased lung oxidative damage and cell senescence and protected from lung emphysema but concomitantly induced the development of lung adenocarcinoma in 50% of JunD-deficient mice and 10% of aged control mice. This finding constitutes the first evidence to our knowledge of a carcinogenic effect of antioxidant therapy in the lungs of aged mice with chronic lung oxidative stress and warrants the utmost caution when considering the therapeutic use of antioxidants.
