L-Carnitine Prevents Progression of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis in a Mouse Model
July 29, 2014
The research group at Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences has shown that L-carnitine prevents progression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in a mouse model by upregulating the mitochondrial β-oxidation and redox system.
The findings were published online July 1, 2014 in the journal PLoS One.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0100627
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common liver disease that is characterized by hepatic steatosis. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a more severe form of NAFLD. Vitamin E supplementation is an antioxidant treatment that has become a standard therapy for NASH. However, most clinical studies of treating atherosclerotic diseases with dietary antioxidants have shown contrary results, with a shortening of the patients' lifespan. Therefore, Vitamin E supplementation for NASH is questionable with regards to its long-term efficacy.
Eight-week-old male mice of a NASH model were fed high-fat diets as a control group or high-fat diets mixed with L-carnitine as a treated group. After 4 or 8 weeks, blood samples and livers were collected from the mice and examined for hepatic tumor development in the study. As a result, the group with the L-carnitine was oberved to have increased hepatic expression of genes related to long-chain fatty acid transport, mitochondrial β-oxidation, and antioxidant enzymes following suppression of hepatic oxidative stress markers and inflammatory cytokines in NASH. In addition, mice in the treated group developed fewer liver tumors.
The findings are expected to lead to the development of a novel treatment with L-carnitine for NASH and liver tumor.
Contact Information:
Mototaka Senda, Ph.D.
US Representative
Intellectual Property Office, Organization for Research Promotion and Collaboration, Okayama University
Fremont, California USA
TEL: 1-510-797-0907
Email: takasenda@okayama-u.ac.jp
Akinobu Takaki, M.D., Ph.D.
Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan