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Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) Intake in Mice Produces Elevated Liver Glutathione and Partially Protects Against Carbon Tetrachloride‐Induced Liver Injury
Author(s) -
DiSilvestro Robert A,
DiSilvestro David J,
DiSilvestro Daniel J
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.445.8
Subject(s) - carbon tetrachloride , glutathione , antioxidant , liver injury , in vivo , oxidative stress , chemistry , pharmacology , biochemistry , medicine , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , organic chemistry , enzyme
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) is a organic molecule present in small amounts in a number of foods and sold as a dietary supplement. MSM's antioxidant actions have been proposed based mostly on indirect evidence. For example, antioxidant actions in vivo of a related compound, DMSO, may be produced by MSM formed in vivo from DMSO. Thus, a study was done in mice to determine whether oral intake of MSM (OptiMSM®, Bergstrom Nutrition) could affect tissue levels of an internal sulfur‐containing antioxidant, glutathione, and resistance to chemically‐induced oxidant stress. MSM administration (5 weeks, 80 mg/100 ml drinking water) produced a statistically significant increase in liver glutathione (mean increase of 78%). A similar effect was not seen in lung or skeletal muscle. In addition, MSM partially inhibited liver injury after injection of carbon tetrachloride, which induces liver oxidant stress (injury evaluation based on blood indexes of hepatic injury). These results indicate the need for further testing for MSM antioxidant actions in vivo, and to explore the mechanism of elevated glutathione. This work was supported in part by an unrestricted research gift from Bergstrom Nutrition.