Mega-Dose Vitamin C Ameliorates Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a Mouse Fast-Food Diet Model

Abstract

In previous studies, the increasing clinical importance of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been recognized. However, the specific therapeutic strategies or drugs have not been discovered. Vitamin C is a water-soluble antioxidant and is a cofactor in many important biosynthesis pathways. Recently, many researchers have reported that the mega-dose vitamin C treatment had positive effects on various diseases. However, the precise relationship between mega-dose vitamin C and NAFLD has not been completely elucidated. This study has been designed to discover the effects of mega-dose vitamin C on the progression of NAFLD. Twelve-week-old wild-type C57BL6 mice were fed chow diets and high-fat and high-fructose diet (fast-food diet) ad libitum for 11 weeks with or without of vitamin C treatment. Vitamin C was administered in the drinking water (1.5 g/L). In this study, 11 weeks of the mega-dose vitamin C treatment significantly suppressed the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) independently of the catabolic process. Vitamin C supplements in fast-food diet fed mice significantly decreased diet ingestion and increased water intake. Histopathological analysis revealed that the mice fed a fast-food diet with vitamin C water had a mild renal injury suggesting osmotic nephrosis due to fructose-mediated purine derivatives. These data suggest that the mega-dose vitamin C treatment suppresses high-fructose-diet-mediated NAFLD progression by decreasing diet ingestion and increasing water intake.