Pharmacological Effects
S-nitroso-N-acetylcysteine (SNAC) is an S-nitrosothiol that can act as an Nitric oxide (NO) carrier and donor. NO has a systemic and tissue vasodilatation effect and also acts in hepatic microcirculation.S-nitroso-N-acetylcysteine (SNAC) acts an NO donor in the prevention of liver I/R injury in an animal mode. Experimental results demonstrated that SNAC solution showed a greater protective effect to preserve rat livers during cold storage.
Wellington Andraus and team hypothesized that S-nitroso-N-acetylcysteine (SNAC), an NO donor component, can ameliorate cell damage from IR injury. They studied the effect of SNAC on liver IR in rats with normal livers compared to those with steatotic livers, and the research results show that SNAC effectively protects against IR injury in steatotic livers but not in normal livers.
Previous studies have shown that SNAC prevents nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in rats and promotes down-regulation of several genes linked to glutathione synthesis and fatty acid metabolism. Thus, SNAC may be an interesting candidate for the treatment of human fibrosis and cirrhosis.
Antioxidant in Cured mMat
S-nitroso-N-acetylcysteine(SNAC) also acts as an antioxidant in cured meat.SNAC seems to be a good candidate molecule for the replacement of nitrite in meat products. S-nitroso-N-acetylcysteine(SNAC) at concentration like nitrite used by the industry prevents lipid peroxidation in the product, even after storage for 1 month at 4 °C. In condition like those used by the industry for meat products processing, SNAC acts better than nitrite to provide antioxidant protection without the side effect of N-nitrosation, oxidation, and the loss of nutrient generated by nitrite.
