New study indicates ability of oral sulforaphane to boost antioxidant response in the human brain

Our Center participated in a study with results just published in Molecular Neuropsychiatry. This small pilot study was led by colleagues in The Schizophrenia Center, along with the Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Nine healthy volunteers ingested sulforaphane from broccoli, daily for seven days. There were increases in glutathione (the body’s most abundant antioxidant) in the blood, and in the brain at specific sites where one would hope to be able to reduce oxidative stress. This is exciting because for the first time, a systemic, easily accessible indicator (from blood samples) and the same molecule measured at the site of action using sophisticated non-invasive imaging of specific regions of the brain, correlated with each other and changed following administration of sulforaphane. This should aid our understanding of sulforaphane’s indirect antioxidant effects that may help with neurological conditions like schizophrenia and autism.