Vitamin E supplementation in cirrhosis

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   Source:  Nutrition Research Newsletter, June 1995 v14 n6 p80(1).
                                                                              
    Title:  Vitamin E supplementation in cirrhosis. (adapted from the Journal
            of the American College of Nutrition, April 1995)
                                                                              
Subjects:  Liver cirrhosis - Diet therapy
            Vitamin E - Therapeutic use
                                                                              
Electronic Collection:  A17376430
                   RN:  A17376430
                                                                              

Full Text COPYRIGHT 1995 Technical Insights, a divison of John Wiley & Sons.

The adverse effects of alcohol in the liver are believed to be mediated, at
least in part, by free radicals and oxidative processes. In addition, chronic
alcoholism may impair the body's antioxidant defense system, leading to even greater oxidative damage. If antioxidant defenses could be enhanced, it might be possible to reduce the degree of liver damage experienced by alcoholics.

This study, conducted at the University of Chile, investigated the effects of
supplementation with vitamin E, an important component of the antioxidant
defense system, in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis.

In a double-blind trial, 67 decompensated ambulatory alcoholic cirrhotics were randomly assigned to receive 500 mg/day of vitamin E or placebo for one year.

Supplementation significantly increased serum vitamin E and the vitamin
E/cholesterol ratio in the treated group, but had no significant effect on
laboratory tests of liver function, hospitalization rates, or mortality.

These results indicate that vitamin E supplementation does not have
significant beneficial effects in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. The lack
of effect of vitamin E supplementation, as most therapeutic interventions in
advanced cirrhosis, probably indicates that the liver function in these
patients cannot be improved. Evidence supporting lipid peroxidation and
altered antioxidant mechanisms in response to heavy alcohol consumption
appears solid, but, in order to protect from its adverse hepatic consequences, interventions probably have to be attempted in earlier stages of the disease."

Maria Pia de la Maza, Margarita Petermann, Daniel Bunout, and Sandra Hirsch, Effects of Long-Term Vitamin E Supplementation in Alcoholic Cirrhotics, J American College of Nutrition 14(2):192-196 (Apr 1995) [Reprints are not available]
                                                                              
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