Effects of cumin on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: A double blind, randomised, controlled trial

Shavakhi, Ahmad; Torki, Masoumeh; Khodadoostan, Mahsa; Shavakhi, Sara

Effects of cumin on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: A double blind, randomised, controlled trial

Authors

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

² Medical Students' Research Centre, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Background: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of cumin on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in compare to placebo.
Materials and Methods: One hundred patients with histopathological diagnosis NASH in two groups of case and control received oral cumin capsule or placebo thrice daily for 6 months. Clinical and laboratory data were body mass index (BMI), serum triglyceride, serum total cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), fasting blood sugar (FBS), steatosis grade, and side-effects and were measured at baseline and after treatment period using standard clinical chemistry techniques. The grade of steatosis was assessed by liver sonography in 3 stages (mild, moderate and severe).
Results: Of 100 eligible patients during follow-up 10/50 cases and 9/50 controls were excluded. At baseline and after treatment BMI, triglyceride, cholesterol, ALT, AST, HDL, LDL, and FBS were not statistically significant between groups (P ≥ 0.5). BMI, triglyceride, cholesterol, ALT, AST, LDL, and FBS after treatment decreased compare to baseline but were not statistically significant (P ≥ 0.5). The mean of changes in the level of BMI, triglyceride, cholesterol, ALT, LDL and FBS were not statistically significant (P ≥ 0.5). The mean of changes in AST and HDL between groups was significant (P < 0.05). The grade of steatosis before and after treatment between studied groups was not statistically significant (P ≥ 0.5). Side-effects were not statistically significant among the two groups.
Conclusion: Findings show that there the effect of cumin in in the treatment of NASH was not significantly different in compare to placebo.

Keywords

References

1.	Browning JD, Szczepaniak LS, Dobbins R, Nuremberg P, Horton JD, Cohen JC, et al. Prevalence of hepatic steatosis in an urban population in the United States: Impact of ethnicity. Hepatology 2004;40:1387-95.
2.	Adams LA, Lindor KD. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Ann Epidemiol 2007;17:863-9.
3.	Chitturi S, Abeygunasekera S, Farrell GC, Holmes-Walker J, Hui JM, Fung C, et al. NASH and insulin resistance: Insulin hypersecretion and specific association with the insulin resistance syndrome. Hepatology 2002;35:373-9.
4.	Musso G, Gambino R, Cassader M, Pagano G. A meta-analysis of randomized trials for the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology 2010;52:79-104.
5.	Ratziu V, Bellentani S, Cortez-Pinto H, Day C, Marchesini G. A position statement on NAFLD/NASH based on the EASL 2009 special conference. J Hepatol 2010;53:372-84.
6.	Hebbard L, George J. Animal models of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2011;8:35-44.
7.	Abbasi F, Chang SA, Chu JW, Ciaraldi TP, Lamendola C, McLaughlin T, et al. Improvements in insulin resistance with weight loss, in contrast to rosiglitazone, are not associated with changes in plasma adiponectin or adiponectin multimeric complexes. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2006;290:R139-44.
8.	Sanyal AJ, Brunt EM, Kleiner DE, Kowdley KV, Chalasani N, Lavine JE, et al. Endpoints and clinical trial design for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Hepatology 2011;54:344-53.
9.	Torres DM, Harrison SA. Diagnosis and therapy of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Gastroenterology 2008;134:1682-98.
10.	Vernon G, Baranova A, Younossi ZM. Systematic review: The epidemiology and natural history of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in adults. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2011;34:274-85.
11.	Vuppalanchi R, Chalasani N. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: Selected practical issues in their evaluation and management. Hepatology 2009;49:306-17.
12.	Chalasani N, Younossi Z, Lavine JE, Diehl AM, Brunt EM, Cusi K, et al. The diagnosis and management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Practice Guideline by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, American College of Gastroenterology, and the American Gastroenterological Association. Hepatology 2012;55:2005-23.
13.	Cheung O, Sanyal AJ. Recent advances in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Curr Opin Gastroenterol 2010;26:202-8.
14.	Clark JM, Brancati FL, Diehl AM. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Gastroenterology 2002;122:1649-57.
15.	Dowman JK, Tomlinson JW, Newsome PN. Systematic review: The diagnosis and staging of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2011;33:525-40.
16.	Fabbrini E, Sullivan S, Klein S. Obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Biochemical, metabolic, and clinical implications. Hepatology 2010;51:679-89. [PUBMED]
17.	Bugianesi E, Marchesini G, Gentilcore E, Cua IH, Vanni E, Rizzetto M, et al. Fibrosis in genotype 3 chronic hepatitis C and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Role of insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis. Hepatology 2006;44:1648-55.
18.	Charlton MR, Pockros PJ, Harrison SA. Impact of obesity on treatment of chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology 2006;43:1177-86.
19.	Everhart JE, Lok AS, Kim HY, Morgan TR, Lindsay KL, Chung RT, et al. Weight-related effects on disease progression in the hepatitis C antiviral long-term treatment against cirrhosis trial. Gastroenterology 2009;137:549-57.
20.	Koike K. Hepatitis C as a metabolic disease: Implication for the pathogenesis of NASH. Hepatol Res 2005;33:145-50.
21.	Negro F, Clément S. Impact of obesity, steatosis and insulin resistance on progression and response to therapy of hepatitis C. J Viral Hepat 2009;16:681-8.
22.	Kleiner DE, Brunt EM, Van Natta M, Behling C, Contos MJ, Cummings OW, et al. Design and validation of a histological scoring system for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology 2005;41:1313-21.
23.	Popkin BM Is the obesity epidemic a national security issue around the globe? Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes 2011;18:328-31.
24.	Powell EE, Jonsson JR, Clouston AD. Metabolic factors and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease as co-factors in other liver diseases. Dig Dis 2010;28:186-91.
25.	Dongiovanni P, Valenti L, Rametta R, Daly AK, Nobili V, Mozzi E, et al. Genetic variants regulating insulin receptor signalling are associated with the severity of liver damage in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Gut 2010;59:267-73.
26.	Dowman JK, Tomlinson JW, Newsome PN. Pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. QJM 2010;103:71-83.
27.	Edmison J, McCullough AJ. Pathogenesis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: Human data. Clin Liver Dis 2007;11:75-104, ix.
28.	Erickson SK. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. J Lipid Res 2009;50 Suppl:S412-6.
29.	Chan DF, Li AM, Chu WC, Chan MH, Wong EM, Liu EK, et al. Hepatic steatosis in obese Chinese children. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2004;28:1257-63.
30.	Chande N, Laidlaw M, Adams P, Marotta P. Yo Jyo Hen Shi Ko (YHK) improves transaminases in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH): A randomized pilot study. Dig Dis Sci 2006;51:1183-9.
31.	Charlton M. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A review of current understanding and future impact. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2004;2:1048-58.
32.	Chidambaram J, Carani Venkatraman A. Cissus quadrangularis stem alleviates insulin resistance, oxidative injury and fatty liver disease in rats fed high fat plus fructose diet. Food Chem Toxicol 2010;48:2021-9.
33.	Carmiel-Haggai M, Cederbaum AI, Nieto N. A high-fat diet leads to the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese rats. FASEB J 2005;19:136-8.

Advanced Biomedical Research