Table 1.

NAC in experimental research

Research subject	Results
Inflammation, infection, immunity	Attenuating, alleviating, adding resistance, healing and strengthening the immune response, including Leishmania infection and influenza [12, 16–20]
Endothelial cells	Protection against several hazardous factors, including urban air fine particles and tobacco smoke [2, 14, 21]
Vascular wall	Several protective effects [2, 22, 23]
Experimental models of cardiovascular diseases, cardiac surgery	Favourable effects in hypertension, in hypertensive cardiac injury, cardioprotection in ischaemia-reperfusion injury/myocardial infarct and cardiopulmonary bypass [24–27]
Lungs	Protective effect in injuries by different toxins (including tobacco smoke), in lung transplantation, in lung reperfusion injury, attenuation of pulmonary fibrosis [2, 28–30]
Nervous system	Neuroprotection in transient hypoxic injury (Alzheimer-type) to cortical neurones, prevention of primary sensory neuronal death, beneficial effects in deficits of learning and memory and in hearing loss [31–34]
Gastroenterology	Favourable effect in acute pancreatitis and liver injuries, inhibition of the growth of Helicobacter pylori [2, 11, 35, 36]
Endocrinology/pregnancy	Protection against complications of diabetes, insulin resistance, and oestrogen-deficiency bone loss, restores nitric oxide-mediated effects in the fetoplacental circulation in pre-eclampsia [37–40]
Articular structures	Protection against various injuries [2]
Miscellaneous	Protection against acute high-dose irradiation, photoageing of human skin, decreases plasma total homocysteine levels in healthy volunteers [41–43]