Protective effect of S-adenosyl-L-methionine against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in cultured hepatocytes

Effect of S-adenosyl-L-methionine disulfate tosylate salt (SAMe-ST) and L-methionine (L-Met) on primary cultured rat hepatocytes were studied. In cultured hepatocytes treated with CCl4, SAMe-ST and L-Met suppressed the decrease in urea-nitrogen secretion as well as the leakages of GOT and GPT. The membrane-protective action of these two compounds was verified by the histological data. Failure of SAMe-ST to counteract CCl4-induced reduction of radioactive leucine incorporation into the trichloroacetic acid-insoluble materials in hepatocytes indicates that the observed effects of SAMe-ST or L-Met do not involve acceleration of protein synthesis. The present results indicate that SAMe-ST remarkably protects hepatocytes from CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity, probably by either changing the structure or compositions of membrane phospholipids or by modifying the interaction of CCl4 with the intracellular drug-metabolizing enzyme systems.