Sialic Acid: The "Brain Gold" and "Oriental Caviar" for Cosmetics & Food, What i
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In the fast-paced modern life, unhealthy habits such as staying up late, irregular diet, excessive alcohol consumption, and lack of exercise are quietly eroding our liver health. For work, study, or entertainment, many people remain in a state of chronic fatigue, ignoring the critical period when the liver undergoes self-repair at night. Unhealthy lifestyles increase the liver's burden, and prolonged liver stress, if not effectively improved, may lead to more severe liver problems, such as Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).
When it comes to liver diseases, many first think of alcoholic fatty liver caused by long-term excessive alcohol consumption. However, apart from alcohol, NAFLD has become a common health hazard. NAFLD is a disease characterized by metabolic disorders leading to fat accumulation in the liver, primarily caused by high-calorie diets, obesity, and insulin resistance. Early-stage NAFLD often shows no obvious symptoms, but as the disease progresses, it may develop into liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, or even liver cancer. According to statistics, the global prevalence of NAFLD is approximately 30% [1], while China's prevalence reaches 32.5% [2], higher than the global average, making NAFLD a public health issue that demands urgent attention.
Traditional liver-protecting ingredients include silybin, glutathione, pueraria, etc., which are widely used for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and liver-regenerative effects. Among them, silybin is the current mainstream liver-protecting health ingredient, widely recognized for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and commonly used to assist in liver disease treatment. CABIO, in collaboration with the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, found that sialic acid can significantly improve lipid metabolism disorders and liver pathological damage induced by a Western diet.
Four experimental groups were designed for the study: 1. Control Diet Group (Con), 2. Western High-Fat Diet Group (WD), 3. Western High-Fat Diet + Sialic Acid Group (SA), and 4. Western High-Fat Diet + Silybin Group (SB). After 24 weeks of feeding, the mice were dissected, and relevant indicators were detected.
H&E staining and F4/80 immunohistochemical staining showed that sialic acid exhibited anti-inflammatory effects similar to silybin and significantly alleviated liver pathological damage.
H&E staining revealed that compared with the WD group, the SA and SB groups had significantly reduced fatty degeneration, hepatocyte ballooning, and lobular inflammation in mouse liver tissues. F4/80 immunohistochemical staining also showed that macrophage infiltration was significantly reduced in both SA and SB groups, especially in the SA group.
Serum transaminase levels (ALT and AST) are key biochemical indicators for evaluating liver injury (Figure A). The results showed that compared with the Western high-fat diet group (WD), both the sialic acid group (SA) and the silybin group (SB) significantly reduced ALT and AST levels, indicating a significant improvement in liver injury. For liver histological scores (Figure B), including steatosis, hepatocyte ballooning, and lobular inflammation, the data showed that both SA and SB significantly reduced these indicators, improving liver pathological damage caused by a high-fat diet. These results indicate that sialic acid is comparable to silybin in liver protection, demonstrating its potential in maintaining liver health.
References
[1] Younossi ZM, Golabi P, Paik JM, Henry A, Van Dongen C, Henry L. The global epidemiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH): a systematic review. Hepatology. 2023 Apr 1;77(4):1335-1347.
[2] Riazi K, Azhari H, Charette JH, Underwood FE, King JA, Afshar EE, Swain MG, Congly SE, Kaplan GG, Shaheen AA. The prevalence and incidence of NAFLD worldwide: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022 Sep;7(9):851-861.
[3] Younossi ZM, Golabi P, Paik JM, Henry A, Van Dongen C, Henry L. The global epidemiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH): a systematic review. Hepatology. 2023 Apr 1;77(4):1335-1347.
