Children's toxicology from bench to bed - Liver Injury (2): Mechanism of antioxidant therapy for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a state of excessive accumulation of fat in the liver of persons whose alcohol intake is lower than the classical level for causing liver damage. When inflammation and fibrosis occur in addition to fatty liver, followed by the development of chronic hepatic dysfunction, the condition is called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Vitamin E possesses antioxidant activity and is effective for NASH, but the mechanism of action is not known. We utilized a methionine-choline deficiency rat model (MCD rats) to investigate the mechanism by which vitamin E improves NASH. In MCD rats, high-dose vitamin E therapy reduced the hepatic content of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, but failed to improve liver histopathology. The hepatic content of alpha-tocopherol was also elevated and this might be related to the expression of alpha-tocopherol transfer protein.