Normal glutathione levels in autopsied brain of chronic users of heroin and of cocaine

Acknowledging the many generic limitations of an autopsied human brain study and the preliminary nature of the findings, our data nevertheless suggest that any oxidative stress caused by heroin or cocaine in chronic users of the drugs might not be sufficient to cause substantial loss of stores of glutathione in the human brain, at least during early withdrawal. These findings, requiring replication, might also have some relevance to future clinical trials employing glutathione supplement therapy as an anti-oxidative strategy in chronic users of the two abused drugs.