Rats Help Scientists Find Cure For Alcoholic Liver

The results of experiments by Russian biologists have shown the presence of substances that can help treat liver damage caused by alcoholism.

The Cells Journal reports that the results of experiments conducted by researchers Yulia Baburina, Irina Odinokova and Olga Kristinina, from the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, on rats “addicted” to alcohol , have shown the presence of substances which may contribute to the treatment of liver damage in alcoholics.

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According to the World Health Organization, excessive alcohol consumption kills three million people worldwide each year, which is equivalent to 5% of all deaths and 13% of deaths between the ages of 20 and 39. Excessive alcohol consumption causes more than 200 dysfunctions in the functioning of the organs of the body, first and foremost the liver, which is responsible for neutralizing and detoxifying the body.

The experiments carried out by the Russian researchers included feeding the rats with food containing 5% ethanolic alcohol for eight weeks, and a second group of rats given the same food but without alcohol.

After the expiration of the period, samples were taken from rat liver cells in both groups and mitochondria were isolated from them. It is also known that ethanolic alcohol disrupts the functioning of its cells and thus causes their death.

Mitochondria were injected with different compounds to see their effect. “Our study included adding these substances directly to the mitochondria taken from the two groups of rats. Then we observed how their functional status, protein levels and other parameters changed,” said researcher Yulia Baburina. .

The researchers focused their attention on two substances that have a known effect on mitochondria, namely the organic compound protoporphyrin 9 and the compound PK-11195. Both compounds are used in many medicines to treat certain diseases. But it has never been used to treat the consequences of alcoholism.

And it became clear to the researchers that these two compounds have different effects in the mitochondria of healthy rats and the mitochondria of rats “addicted” to alcohol, their effect on the latter being positive.

But its biochemical mechanism remains a mystery. Therefore, researchers plan to study them in the future, and now new drugs can be designed and tested on animals to treat the effects of alcoholism.

Source: Jacket. Ru

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