Evaluation of the potential of N-acetylcysteine in Alzheimer's disease

Objective: This review aims to show the studies related to the acetylcysteine molecule in Alzheimer's disease, the glutamatergic hypothesis, and to show the difference of this drug in the use of medications and food supplements. Methods: The integrative review was performed in 6 detailed steps, the articles for the construction of the research were obtained from the databases Scopus; Scielo; MEDLINE, available at the Universidade Federal de Paraná-UFPR, through CAFe access. By the Boolean operators "AND" and "OR", the terms defined for data collection were obtained through the Descriptors in Health Sciences (DeCS/MeSH). Results: A total of 68 studies were found, divided among the authors; and using the inclusion and exclusion criteria, only 7 studies remained, in which were added to the search after being read in full; the studies that showed better affinity in the use of the acetylcysteine molecule associated with Alzheimer's in vivo or in vitro tests were narrated in full. Final considerations: In the research it was possible to verify that the use of N-acetylcysteine off label can be a target molecule for Alzheimer's disease, but to prove this action further studies are recommended to ensure its effectiveness.