Nutrition and Supplements
B Vitamins to Treat Advanced Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Feb
Scientists have uncovered a mechanism that leads to an advanced form of fatty liver disease — and it turns out that vitamin B12 and folic acid supplements could reverse this process.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease involves fat build-up in the liver and is a leading cause of liver transplants worldwide.
When the condition progresses to inflammation and scar tissue formation, it is known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
“While fat deposition in the liver is reversible in its early stages, its progression to NASH causes liver dysfunction, cirrhosis and increases the risk for liver cancer,” said Dr Madhulika Tripathi, first author of the study.
Currently, there are no pharmacological treatments for NASH because scientists don’t understand the mechanics of the disease.
Although scientists know that NASH is associated with elevated blood levels of an amino acid called homocysteine, they didn’t know what role, if any, it plays in the development of the disorder.
Dr Tripathi, study co-author Dr Brijesh Singh and their colleagues in Singapore, India, China and the US confirmed the association of homocysteine with NASH progression in preclinical models and humans.
They also found that, as homocysteine levels increased in the liver, the amino acid attached to various liver proteins, changing their structure and impeding their functioning.
This induced the development and progression of fatty liver disease to NASH.
Importantly, the researchers found that supplementing the diet in the preclinical models with vitamin B12 and folic acid increased the levels of syntaxin 17 in the liver and restored its role in autophagy.
It also slowed NASH progression and reversed liver inflammation and fibrosis.
They hope that further research will lead to the development of anti-NASH therapies.
Professor Paul M. Yen, senior author of the study, said, “The potential for using vitamin B12 and folate, which have high safety profiles and are designated as dietary supplements by the US Food and Drug Administration, as first-line therapies for the prevention and treatment of NASH could result in tremendous cost savings and reduce the health burden from NASH in both developed and developing countries.”
Professor Patrick Casey, Senior Vice-Dean for Research at Duke-NUS, said, “Currently, the only treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease is to receive a transplant. The findings by Dr Tripathi and her colleagues demonstrate that a simple, affordable and accessible intervention could potentially halt or reverse the damage to the liver, bringing new hope to those suffering from fatty liver diseases. The team’s findings underscore the value of basic scientific research, through which the scientific community continues to have a major positive impact on the lives of patients.”
Sources:
Madhulika Tripathi, Brijesh Kumar Singh, Jin Zhou, Keziah Tikno, Anissa Widjaja, Reddemma Sandireddy, Kabilesh Arul, Siti Aishah Binte Abdul Ghani, George Goh Boon Bee, Kiraely Adam Wong, Ho Jia Pei, Shamini Guna Shekeran, Rohit Anthony Sinha, Manvendra K. Singh, Stuart Alexander Cook, Ayako Suzuki, Teegan Reina Lim, Chang-Chuen Cheah, Jue Wang, Rui-Ping Xiao, Xiuqing Zhang, Pierce Kah Hoe Chow, Paul Michael Yen. Vitamin B12 and folate decrease inflammation and fibrosis in NASH by preventing Syntaxin 17 homocysteinylation. Journal of Hepatology, 2022; DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2022.06.033
Materials provided by Duke-NUS Medical School. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Duke-NUS Medical School. “B vitamins can potentially be used to treat advanced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 August 2022. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220805091251.htm>.
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Photo by Anna Shvets
