Currently, there are no pharmacological treatments for NASH because scientists don’t understand the mechanics of the disease
Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore 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, an umbrella term for a range of liver conditions affecting people who drink little to no alcohol, which affects 25 per cent of all adults globally, and four in 10 adults in Singapore.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease involves fat build-up in the liver and is a leading cause of liver transplants worldwide. Its high prevalence is due to its association with diabetes and obesity, two major public health problems in Singapore and other industrialised countries. When the condition progresses to inflammation and scar tissue formation, it is known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
“Our findings are both exciting and important because they suggest that a relatively inexpensive therapy, vitamin B12 and folic acid, could be used to prevent and/or delay the progression of NASH,” said the researchers.
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