Hepatoprotective effect of vitamin B12 on dimethylnitrosamine-induced liver injury.
Isoda K,
Kagaya N,
Akamatsu S,
Hayashi S,
Tamesada M,
Watanabe A,
Kobayashi M,
Tagawa Y,
Kondoh M,
Kawase M,
Yagi K.
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
Vitamin B(12) contains a cobalt complex and accumulates at high levels in the liver. Vitamin B(12) was examined for its hepatoprotective effect on dimethylnitrosamine-induced liver injury in mice. Vitamin B(12) decreased the blood levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, and clearly inhibited the overaccumulation of collagen fibrils. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of the liver showed that the gene expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin and heat-shock protein 47, which are markers of fibrosis, were suppressed by vitamin B(12) administration. Our findings indicate that vitamin B(12) could be an effective hepatoprotective agent.
PMID: 18239293 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]