Attenuation of Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Hepatic Toxicity by a Dietary Supplement

Advanced liver disease (ALD) is often characterized with overt malnutrition and liver fibrosis. In this study, a dietary supplement (DS) was first developed, including branch chain amino acids, fat soluble vitamins, zinc, medium chain triglycerides, soy lecithin, L-carnitine, and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Benefits of DS were then tested using an ALD rat model treated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) for 6, 8, and 10 weeks, respectively. Our study showed that CCl₄-induced drop of serum albumin and ratio of branch chain to aromatic amino acids were significantly prevented at all three time points. DS also mitigated CCl₄-induced elevation of classical liver function markers (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and bilirubin) at certain time points, depending on specific liver function markers. Moreover, CCl₄-induced liver fibrosis was strongly inhibited at all three time points in a transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) independent manner. These findings indicated multi-faceted benefits of DS in this animal model, suggesting that it could be a useful adjunctive treatment of ALD in clinic.