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Document set current to 30 July 2026
Compound monograph · evidence extract

Glutathione in cognitive performance and neuroprotection — evidence extract

The Institute's graded assessment of Glutathione for cognitive performance and neuroprotection, with the contributing trials and the domain-by-domain certainty reasoning.

Document identifier
CEI-MN-046/EV-COGNITIVE
Series
Evidence extract
Version
1.3
Published
06 May 2026
Last reviewed
06 May 2026
Next review
06 May 2028
Identifier
10.71829/cei.mono.46
Certainty
Low
Cycle
2026 Q2

§1Evidence extract: Cognitive performance and neuroprotection

§1.1Question and anchor outcome

Population
Domain-specific cognitive function or protection against cognitive decline, assessed by standardised neuropsychological batteries or clinical dementia rating.
Intervention
Glutathione, intravenous, nebulised, topical or oral; subcutaneous and intramuscular in research contexts
Comparator
As used in each contributing trial; reported per trial rather than pooled across comparator types
Anchor outcome
Domain-specific cognitive test scores

Additional outcomes the Institute extracts for this indication: Clinical Dementia Rating sum of boxes; Biomarker change (amyloid, tau, neurofilament light).

§1.2Contributing trials

Table 1. Trials contributing to the assessment of Glutathione in cognitive performance and neuroprotection.

TrialPhaseDesignRandomisedDurationYear
GSH-PD-PH22Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled453 months2017

§1.3Certainty assessment

Certainty assessment by domainDowngrading decision recorded for each certainty domain.Certainty domainNo concernSeriousVery seriousEffect on ratingRisk of biasdowngrade two levelsInconsistencyno downgradeIndirectnessno downgradeImprecisionno downgradePublication biasno downgradeTotal downgrading: 2 levelsLow certainty
Figure 2. Domain-by-domain certainty assessment for Glutathione in cognitive performance and neuroprotection. The starting rating for a body of randomised evidence is high; each serious concern reduces it by one level and each very serious concern by two.

Table 2. Reasoning recorded against each certainty domain.

DomainRatingReasoning
Risk of biasVery seriousDifferential attrition exceeded the pre-specified threshold in one arm.
InconsistencyNo concernNo serious concern identified in this domain.
IndirectnessNo concernNo serious concern identified in this domain.
ImprecisionNo concernNo serious concern identified in this domain.
Publication biasNo concernNo serious concern identified in this domain.
Overall rating: Low certainty. Confidence in the effect estimate is limited. The true effect may be substantially different from the estimate.

§1.4What this extract does not establish

References cited on this page

References are numbered in order of first citation in this document. Each superscript in the text links to its entry below.

  1. D’Hondt M, Bracke N, Taevernier L, Gevaert B, Verbeke F, Wynendaele E, De Spiegeleer B. Related impurities in peptide medicines. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis 2014;101:2–30. doi:10.1016/j.jpba.2014.06.012 · PMID 25044089
  2. Manning MC, Chou DK, Murphy BM, Payne RW, Katayama DS. Stability of protein pharmaceuticals: an update. Pharmaceutical Research 2010;27(4):544–575. doi:10.1007/s11095-009-0045-6 · PMID 20143256
  3. United States Pharmacopeial Convention. General Chapter ⟨85⟩ Bacterial Endotoxins Test. United States Pharmacopeia — National Formulary (USP–NF) 2024;USP 2024 Issue 1. identifier not held by the Institute

Identifiers are reproduced only where the Institute holds them. Where a digital object identifier or PubMed identifier is not shown, the Institute has recorded the journal and year and has not constructed an identifier.

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