COVID-19: can glutathione (GSH) help to reduce severe symptoms?

Currently, the prevalent approach to decrease the number of deaths by SARS-CoV-2 is to contain the spread of the virus by reducing interpersonal contacts and, hence, the number of infected people. An alternative strategy could involve the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the known risk factors (old age, sex, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, or cancer, former smokers, etc) and to correct them, when possible, as a prevention/treatment of the disease. The decrease of glutathione (GSH) is one of the biochemical alterations identified up to now as being linked to the risk factors. Here, we discuss how GSH can mitigate the inflammatory response of the host, specific for the SARS-CoV-2 and dependent on its binding to its receptor ACE2, and we also suggest how to increase GSH levels to prevent and subdue the disease.