Avocado 'protects against liver damage'

Avocado may protect against liver damage

Extracts of the nutritious avocado fruit may be able to lessen the liver damage caused by the hepatitis viruses, scientists suggest.

The liver damage caused particularly by hepatitis C, can be permanent and in extreme cases cause liver failure - and, without urgent transplantation, death.

Doctors say that the hepatitis C virus, which can be transmitted sexually, and may be carried unnoticed for decades, could soon have a bigger effect on the health service than HIV.

Scientists have been hunting for ways of limiting the damage caused to the liver by these viruses, with suggestions that types of tea may help.

However, the latest study, carried out at Shizuoka University in Japan, suggests the avocado fruit may have potential.

Rats were given a chemical which causes similar liver damage to the hepatitis viruses, and fed 22 different types of fruit to see if they made any difference.

They found five compounds extracted from fruit to have a beneficial effect, and the most potent of these came from the avocado.

Unsure of effect

The scientists are still not sure whether the same effect could be found in humans, and say further studies are needed.

They also have no idea how the avocado extract actually has this effect.

Precisely how much help this would be to stem the damage caused by hepatitis in humans is as yet unclear, as often patients are wholly unaware of their infection until serious damage has taken place.

Avocados are well-known as a good source of vitamins E and C, and are high in fibre and potassium, as well as folic acid, a vitamin which helps reduce the chance of birth defects in pregnant women.

The research was presented at the International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies, held this week in Hawaii.