Development of treatment protocol for oxidative stress in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and liver cancer

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26461006
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Gastroenterology
• Research Institution: Okayama University
• Principal Investigator: Takaki Akinobu 岡山大学, 医歯薬学総合研究科, 准教授 (80359885)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 肝癌 / 非アルコール性脂肪性肝炎 / 胆管癌 / 酸化ストレス / 抗酸化薬

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Oxidative stress is associated with the progression of chronic liver disease. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is an oxidative stress-related disease. However, the oxidative / anti-oxidative balance has so far not been fully characterized in NASH. The objective of the present study was to investigate the oxidative stress and the anti-oxidative activity in NASH, including concomitant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCC). NASH-HCC patients exhibited a lower OXY than NASH. In mice, vitamin E administration induced antioxidant hemeoxygenase (HO)-1 protein expression in CCC cancer tissue, while the number of stem-like cells increased. L-Carnitine administration improved intestinal microbiome and biliary acid balance, upregulated the hepatic mitochondrial membrane uptake related gene in non-cancerous tissue, and did not alter stem-like cell numbers. The mitochondrial function-supporting agent L-carnitine is a good candidate to control oxidative stress conditions.

Free Research Field

消化器病学