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Nicotinic Acid Supplementation in the Context of Alcoholic Liver Injury: Friend or Foe?
Author(s) -
Kharbanda Kusum K.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/acer.12506
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , steatosis , liver injury , alcohol , ethanol , alcoholic liver disease , nicotinic agonist , medicine , gastroenterology , chemistry , biochemistry , biology , cirrhosis , paleontology , receptor
Li and colleagues (2014) in this issue report that dietary nicotinic acid ( NA ) supplementation ameliorates ethanol‐induced hepatic steatosis, but a deficiency does not worsen injury induced by alcohol alone. The authors further present some mechanistic insights into the protective role of NA supplementation. Results of this and other previous studies in the context of alcoholic liver injury raise one important question as to what should be an adequate dose of NA that will provide the maximum benefit to hepatic and extrahepatic tissues and with minimum adverse effects.