liver question

J W · medicine forum beginner Joined: 10 May 2006 Posts: 22

Wonderig if anyone might know of something over the counter or something
I can drink or eat that might help my liver process these chemo drugs
better. My liver numbers keep climbing, onc says most likely from too
much toxic drugs on an ex drinker's liver. Wondering if there's anything
I can try to help it move this stuff through, Starting to getsome pretty
steady pain in the liverfrom this and getting concerned as they may have
to stop chemo if liver numbers keep climbing. The only herbal I'm taking
is essiactea and green tea and I'm not aware of any liver issues with
them.

J · medicine forum Guru Joined: 29 Apr 2005 Posts: 612

J W wrote:

Mike Radcliffe · medicine forum beginner Joined: 23 May 2005 Posts: 33

Caz · medicine forum beginner Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 4

Signet ring cell adenocarcinoma is the cancer my 23 year old son had. He
got really bad stomache cramps. They never did find the primary and it
went into his bones. Scott had a pain specialist right from the word go,
and try as he might to keep Scott's pain under control, his pain was
never lower than a 6. I have never seen anyone be on so many drugs and
still be able to function. All the doctors said it is quite unusual for
such a young person to get this type of cancer.

Caz

Peter Moran · medicine forum Guru Wannabe Joined: 29 Apr 2005 Posts: 109

"Mike Radcliffe" <bobbyradcliffe@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:44741e45$0$28362$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...

Roman Bystrianyk · medicine forum Guru Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 454

For your information:

http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.php?id=281&title=Green+tea+helps+protects+the+liver&event=news_print_list_item

Roman Bystrianyk, "Green tea helps protects the liver", Health
Sentinel, September 29, 2004,

A new study finds that green tea helps protect the liver from damage.
Green tea contains compounds called polyphenols. These polyphenols have
received the most attention because of their anti-inflammatory and
antioxidant properties. The main constituent, that also has the highest
antioxidant properties, is epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG for short.

The study authors exposed groups of mice to a toxic substance -
carbon tetrachloride. The group that was given EGCG for 3 days prior to
administration of this toxic substance had markedly less liver damage
than the group that did not receive the EGCG. In fact, the EGCG
group's liver measurements were close to that of the control group
that didn't receive the carbon tetrachloride at all.

The authors explain that the steps believed to be involved in liver
damage first involve the formation of trichloromethyl free radicals and
then the subsequent activation of Kupffer cells with the release of
proinflammatory mediators. It is believed that it is green tea's
polyphenols, with their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties,
that provides this protection.

The authors conclude that, "Because green tea can be consumed over
long periods of time without any obviously known side effects, its
possible role as an adjunct therapeutic agent in human inflammatory
liver disease deserves consideration."

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004, Vol. 80

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Imai, K. and Nakachi, K., "Cross sectional study of effects of drinking
green tea on cardiovascular and liver diseases", BMJ (British Medical
Journal), March 18, 1995, Vol. 310, Num. 0, pp. 693-696

....

"We also studied serum concentrations of lipid peroxides in relation
to consumption of green tea. It has been suggested that lipid
peroxidation as involved in the process of oxidative DNA damage and
cytotoxicity as well as in that of arteriosclerosis. Our data on the
same cohort population of men showed that serum concentrations of lipid
peroxides among current smokers (n=850) were higher (9.0 (SE 0.1)
nmol/ml) than those among non-smokers (n=226) (8.4 (0.2) nmol/ml;
P<0.05)."

"It is worth noting that high serum concentrations of lipid peroxides
among heavy smokers were reduced to the concentrations among
non-smokers when they consumed >= 10 cups of green tea a day.
Adjustments of age, alcohol consumption, and relative body weight did
not affect the association."

"Increased generation of oxygen radicals and subsequent formation of
lipid peroxides were suggested to by cytotoxic and sometimes
carcinogenic. Various forms of iron participated in radical reaction in
vivo. Thus high stores of body iron were reported to be associated with
increased risk of cancers such as lung, liver, and colon but not
stomach. With regard to stores of body iron and lipid peroxidation, our
cohort data showed a significant association between serum ferritin
concentrations, a stable marker for stores of body iron, and serum
concentrations of lipid peroxides (correlation coefficient 0.25, P <
0.001). The inverse association between the serum concentrations of
ferritin and lipid peroxides and consumption of green tea suggests that
the tea has protective effects on the development of cancer."

"Our cross sectional study showed a close association between high
consumption of green tea and normalization of serum components, which
reflects cardiovascular and liver diseases. Increased consumption of
green tea, especially more than 10 cups a day, was associated with a
decreased serum total cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations;
increased high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and
decreased low density and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol
concentrations, resulting in a reduced atherogenic index; decreased
serum concentrations of lipid peroxides among smokers; and decreased
aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase concentrations,
and serum ferritin concentrations. The associations between green tea
and serum total cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations and
between green tea and high and low density lipoprotein cholesterol
concentrations are well correlated with experimental observations and
the prevalence of heart disease in our cohort, implying green tea may
act preventively against cardiovascular disease."

"Our cross sectional study showed that consumption of green tea also
reduced cell damage of the liver in terms of serum markers. The highest
showed an inverse association with serum concentrations of aspartate
aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, which was of borderline
significance. A significant reduction in the crude and adjusted mean
serum ferritin concentrations was associated with increased consumption
of green tea. The reduction did not change even after adjustment for
haemoglobin concentration. The results suggest that high consumption of
green tea prevents cell damage of the liver, resulting in decreased
serum concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine
aminotransferase as well as of ferritin."

"Moreover, this is the first time that an inverse association between
consumption of green tea and cell damage of the liver, based on serum
markers in humans has been reported."

Roman Bystrianyk · medicine forum Guru Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 454

Another study for your consideration ...

Ju-Hua Chen, George L Tipoe, Emily C Liong, Henry SH So, Ka-Man Leung,
Wai-Ming Tom, Peter CW Fung, and Amin A Nanji, "Green tea polyphenols
prevent toxin-induced hepatoxicity in mice by down-regulating inducible
nitric oxide-derived prooxidants", Advances in Therapy, September 1,
2004, Vol. 80, Num. 0, pp. 742-751
"There has been a great deal of interest recently in the role of
complementary and alternative medicines for the treatment of various
acute and chronic diseases. Of the various herbal and botanical agents
available, interest has focused on the anti-inflammatory and
antioxidant properties of polyphenols found in green tea. The green tea
polyphenols include epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin,
epicatechin gallate, and epicatechin. Of these polyphenolic components
of green tea, EGCG is the major constituent and is also the component
with the highest antioxidant properties."

"Because oxidative stress plays a major role in several liver
diseases, it was of interest to evaluate the role of green tea
polyphenols protecting against liver injury."

"Many studies carried out over the past few years have shown that the
polyphenolic fractions isolated from green tea inhibit oxidant stress
and possess antiinflammatory activity. In this study we showed that
treatment with EGCG markedly inhibits acute hepatocellular injury in a
well-characterized murine model of liver toxicity. The initial step in
liver injury caused by carbon tetrachloride is the formation of
trichloromethyl free radical; subsequent activation of Kupffer cells
with the release of proinflammatory mediators is believed to be a
crucial event in hepatic toxicity. Our results provide evidence that
the protective effect of EGCG against tetrachloride-induced toxicity
is, at least in part, mediated through the inhibition of NO expression
and down-regulation of the production of proinflammatory mediators
resulting from induction of iNOS."

"Thus, the main finding of the current study was that carbon
tetrachloride elicited acute liver injury as indicated by a significant
increase in hepatocellular damage, increased alanine aminotransferase
activity in serum, increased expression of iNOS, and extensive
nitrotyrosine formation. By comparison, the degree of liver injury and
expression of iNOS and nitrotyrosine decreased significantly in the
EGCG-treated mice. Although our study focused on the role of EGCG in
preventing hepatic toxicity, it is important to point out that the
overall protective effect of green tea may require the combined actions
of several components of green tea. Relevant to the findings of the
current study is the observation by Tedeshi et al, which showed that a
consumption of 10 cups of green tea exerts inhibitory actions on
cytokine-induced tyrosine phosphorylation that blocks the expression of
iNOS and reduces NO production. Because green tea can be consumed over
long periods of time without any obviously known side effects, its
possible role as an adjunct therapeutic agent in human inflammatory
liver disease deserves consideration."

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