Acetylcysteine

Acetylcysteine is a molecule with antioxidant and mucolytic effects. Its primary mechanism is to provide sulfhydryl groups (-SH groups), which can break the disulfide bonds in mucin within mucus. In addition, when acetaminophen is metabolized in the liver by the CYP2E1 enzyme, it generates a highly reactive intermediate metabolite called NAPQI (N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine), which is highly toxic to hepatocytes. Acetylcysteine can either directly form covalent bonds with NAPQI or first be converted into glutathione and then bind to NAPQI.