Effect of Sake Cakes on D-Galactosamine-induced Liver Injury in Mice

Abstract

We showed that sake cakes suppress D-galactosamine (GalN)-induced liver injury in mice. Male BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally injected with D-Ga1N (1200mg/kg) after ingesting a diet containing 10% Sake cakes for 14 days. In the mice fed Sake cakes, the D-GalN-induced increases in plasma glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) levels were significantly suppressed. The D-Ga1N-induced increase in DNA fragmentation in the liver was also suppressed by consuming sake cakes, indicating that D-GalN-induced apoptosis was decreased by sake cakes. These results suggest that sake cakes protect against D-GalN-induced liver injury in mice. In addition, the ingestion of sake cakes increased the hepatic S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) that is an intermediate in methionine metabolism and a precursor of glutathione. Sake cakes may enforce the methionine metabolism and contribute to the suppression of liver injury.