Sunday Dec 1, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in Alcohol suggests that taking dietary antioxidant supplements N-acetylcysteine and procysteine can help men and women who drink alcohol chronically to prevent alcohol induced ciliary dysfunction and other alcohol-induced lung complications.

Chronic consumption of alcohol may lead to ciliary dysfunction and potentially result in non-responsibe airway cilia.   Cilia are complex and powerful cellular structures and play a role in the defense of the airway in the lungs and carry out a mechanism called mucociliary clearance by which cilia transport viscous mucus blanket in response to pathogens, allergens, debris and toxins from the upper airway to the gastrointestinal tract.

In the study, mice drank an 20% alcohol solution ad libitum for six weeks and were concurrently fed dietary supplements of either N-acetylcysteine or procysteine.  It was found that long-term alcohol drinking reduced ciliary function while mice drinking alcohol but supplemented with N-acetylcysteine or procysteine sustained ciliary function.

However, the researchers noted dietary supplementation could not completely restore nitric oxide levels in bronchoalveolar lavage.

Also, discontinuation of alcohol consumption for one week restored ciliary function, but not the responsiveness of cyclic nucleotide-dependent kinases, protein kinase G and protein kinase A to β-agonists.

The researchers concluded "Our findings provide a rationale for the use of antioxidants to prevent damage to airway mucociliary functions in chronic alcohol-drinking individuals."

The study was conducted by S. M. Simet from University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE, USA and colleagues .

Cysteine and its derivatives are important for synthesis of endogenous non-enzymatic antioxidants like detoxifying glutathione, which is one of the defense systems against oxidative stress and intoxication. (David Liu, PHD)