Study: NMN supplements to prevent liver damage

Excess Alcohol consumption combined with other comorbidities can lead to several stages of liver damage. The severity and range of symptoms depend on the extent of the liver tissue affected by the condition. Study have shown promising results for NMN to revert liver damage. First let discuss where the stages of Alcohol-Related Liver disease can be classified into:

1. Alcoholic Fatty liver

Alcoholic fatty liver is the first and the most reversible condition of liver damage by alcohol. Alcohol consumption can potentiate the build-up of fat inside the liver tissues. In this stage, NMN supplementation shows the highest efficacy in reducing liver damage caused by alcohol.

2. Alcoholic hepatitis

In this stage, acute inflammation of liver cells starts to occur, which is an alert of permanent liver damage if it is left untreated. The NMN supplementation at this stage can be optimal with the medical treatment to reduce inflammation and prevent permanent complications.

3. Alcoholic liver cirrhosis

The last and most complicated stage of liver damage is cirrhosis. In which the liver tissues become completely dysfunctional and lose their ability to regenerate and can only be treated by transplantation of healthy liver tissues.

Liver damage and NMN

A study shows that NMN supplement reduces the accumulation of thioacetamide (TAA) and Carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) in the liver extracellular matrix, which are two compounds that induce liver fibrosis in mice.

Additionally, NMN inhibits the formation of Hepatic Stellate Cells by suppressing the oxidation-mediated 15 PGDH degradation.

Following these findings, the study proposes that NMN supplementation can be a new therapeutic approach that prevents liver damage by liver fibrosis.

How does NMN protect against liver damage?

In alcohol-related liver disease, a significant dysregulation in liver metabolism occurs related to disrupted gene expression. Alcohol consumption induces overexpression of Activating Transcription Factor3, which is a protein associated with multiple stages of liver damage.

In an In-Vivo mice experiment, a measurement of the NMN effects on metabolism in liver disease showed evidence that NMN reduces the effects of the dysregulated expression of genes on the liver tissues. This effect increases in the early stages of chronic alcohol consumption.

NMN protects against liver cirrhosis

LIn acute or chronic liver injury, the natural wound-healing responses can induce a scarring effect called liver fibrosis. The progression of liver fibrosis can develop into liver cirrhosis and further liver cancer.

When the Hepatic Stellate Cell (HSC) was the primary source of the extracellular matrix that provokes the progression of liver fibrosis, the inhibition of HSC is a key to liver cirrhosis prevention.

NMN supplementation is shown to inhibit the formation of HSC, which is directly correlated to reducing the risk of progressing liver fibrosis into cirrhosis.

References

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891584920316269