B vitamins can potentially be used to treat advanced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (B-12 and/or Folate)

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.

These findings could help people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a term for liver conditions affecting people who drink little to no alcohol, which affects 25% of all adults.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease involves fat build-up in the liver and is a cause of liver transplants. Its prevalence is due to its association with diabetes and obesity. 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 early stages, its progression to NASH causes liver dysfunction, cirrhosis and increases the risk for liver cancer," said Dr. Madhulika Tripathi.

Currently, there are no pharmacological treatments for NASH. Although scientists know that NASH is associated with elevated blood levels of an amino acid called homocysteine, they didn't know what role it plays in the development of the disorder.

They found that, as homocysteine levels increased in the liver, the amino acid attached to various liver proteins, changing their structure and impeding their functioning. In particular, when homocysteine attached to a protein called syntaxin 17, it blocked the protein from performing its role of transporting and digesting fat (known as autophagy, an essential cellular process by which cells remove malformed proteins or damaged organelles) in fatty acid metabolism, mitochondrial turnover, and inflammation prevention. This induced the development and progression of fatty liver disease to NASH.

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.

I will be eternally grateful that 52 years ago my gynecologist did not ridicule the fact I was getting very good results from taking 400IU Vitamin E for the painful varicose veins that were developing after birth of my first child. Fortunately, my doctor said he did NOT know much about nutrition, but I should continue may regular gynecological visits and he would evaluate my health effects from using supplements. My mother had severe varicose veins, open ulcers for 6 years at her ankles, and ultimately vein stripping surgery. Now at 84 and still taking 400IU E daily plus a number of other supplements added as new health issues manifested, I consider doctors, including Fauci, who are vitamin deniers as criminally negligent. In fact I would include most medical schools in that category, as well as various government “health” agencies. Then there is big pharma which actively discourages groups like one started by Linus Pauling from encouraging Vitamin C and other supplement based therapies.

Now to the topic of FATTY LIVER DISEASE. I don’t know about the non-alcolic variety, but I have certainly considered this issue with regard to alcoholism. My late husband suffered from Korean War engendered PTSD. We were married 44 years, he was a heavy drinker for 10 years, an alcoholic for 15 years, and died after 10 years of Alzheimers at age 75 in 2004. I tried for a number of years to help him stop drinking, and read what I could find about alcoholism in the 1960s to 1990s. One books said alcoholics in AA were much more successul in quiting if they also followed good nutrition and took supplements. He would not go to AA, but would take supplements and eat my cooking. I believe that despite the fact he got drunk 5 or 6 nights a week for 2 decades, this prevented him from developing liver symptoms. He took both a good one daily vitamin and minersl tablet and a complete B vitamin suppplement, a multimineral supplement with 1000 mg calcium and 500 mg magnesium, and E 400IU. Fortunately when I invited his sailing and drinking buddy to join an Intervention, instead he took my husband to an AA meeting. When my husband discovered a lot of his missing drinking buddies were there he attended AA meetings regularly and never got drunk again, and only drank once thereafter. Unfortunately, the Alzheimers became manifest 4 years later when he was asked to resign from teaching at age 65 because he was having trouble remembering new information when his school moved to a new location with much new personnel. I continued with the good nutrition and supplements, and while his memory deteriorated as predicted, he was only incapable of regular mobility the last month of his life so I was able to honor his desire to die at home and not in a hospital or nursing home.

I would like to comment further on Big Med and their ignorance or ignoring of nutritional healing. I have already mentioned my success with varicosities. I eliminated a day lost from work each month from menstrual cramps (calcium and magnesium supplements 2 to 1 ratio). This also helped back pain and sciatica which was finally eliminated by osteopathic medicine physic manipulation of my pelvis and lower spine. When it recurred around age 65 I at age added 3 mg a day boron which fixed it until symptoms returned at age 75 and I increased it to 3 mg. morning & evening. I started taking Trace Minerals in my 50s which increased overall energy and feeling of wellbeing. A little over 2 years ago I realized that I had cataracts. It was very hard to go out in mid day as the sun caused such severe glare in my visual field. I learned big med considered cataracts as something you could only fix by surgery, so I was off to Google search of nutrition, vitamins & minerals, and supplements for cataracts. I have been taking 20 mg Lutien, 8 mg Astaxantine; and until it disappeared from the market, bilberry, daily. My cataracts are now 75 to 80% improved as indicated by much more visual comfort outside in the sun, and much shorter visual rays projecting out from street lights, and smaller gnat-like clouds around traffic lights. Overall I have much less in the way of health issues at my age than did my mother and her 5 siblings. My father had severe spring allergies and when I discovered nutritional health through the writings of Adelle Davis I urged him to take some supplements including pantothenic acid and Vitamin C, which immediately put his allergies under complete control until he died at ate 90. He took his supplements faithfully for over 60 years, and what killed him was failure to take my advice and deal with his anger issues, which I believe killed him with a stroke in a very anger producing situation.

One of the most affirming experiences I had was receiving a very nice letter from a woman psychologist who examined my son with dyslexia for Special Education assistance. She wrote we had spoken 7 years earlier on the phone for an hour about therapeutic nutrition and the books of Adelle Davis. She had originally called about my baby sitting service, but soon shifted to nutrition after she decided my situation would not work, but she liked my nutrition ideas for children. She said as a result of this conversation and her subseuent reading she had helped over 80 people with their health problems. What a shame doctors are so narrow in their reading habits.

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