One effervescent tablet contains 600 mg acetylcysteine.
Acetylcysteine, the active substance of Fluimucil 600, exhibits intense mucolytic – fluidizing action on mucous and mucopurulent secretions. This mucolytic action of acetylcysteine is based on depolymerization (opening of disulfide bonds) of mucoprotein complexes and nucleic acids, which provide viscosity to the glassy and purulent component of sputum and other secretions.
In addition, acetylcysteine exhibits direct antioxidant action, given that it possesses a free thiol (-SH) nucleophilic group, which is able to directly interact with the electrophilic group of oxidative radicals. Particularly interesting are recent findings that acetylcysteine prevents the inactivation of alpha 1-antitrypsin (an enzyme that inhibits elastase) by hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which is a powerful oxidative agent produced by the enzyme myeloperoxidase in activated phagocytes.
These properties make Fluimucil 600 particularly suitable for the treatment of acute and chronic disorders of the respiratory system accompanied by the production of thick, viscous, and mucopurulent secretions. Thanks to its molecular structure, acetylcysteine can easily pass through cell membranes. Inside the cell, acetylcysteine is deacetylated to L-cysteine, an amino acid necessary for the synthesis of glutathione (GSH).
