I thought some may be interested in this because it says thiamine binds with iron.
"Thiamine is so cheap and has no side effects"
ABSTRACTS
THIAMINE COMBATS HEPATITIS B
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
It is estimated that 400 million people worldwide suffer from chronic
hepatitis B virus infection.
The infection may lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure and
death.
Current medical therapy using interferon or lamivudine
(Heptovir, Combivir) is not terribly effective and can have
devastating side effects.
Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School and the Veteran Administration
Medical Center now report the exciting discovery that oral
supplementation with thiamine (vitamin B1) is effective in the
treatment of hepatitis B (HBV).
The rate of progression of HBV is usually judged by measuring
aminotransferase levels and the presence of DNA from the hepatitis B
virus in blood samples.
The researchers describe three cases where the aminotransferase levels
dropped dramatically (to normal levels) and the presence of HBV DNA became
undetectable after oral supplementation with 100 mg/day of thiamine.
Biopsies performed on two of the patients also showed decreased
inflammation of the liver after extended thiamine therapy.
The researchers speculate that thiamine has antiviral properties and may
slow or reverse liver damage due to iron toxicity.
They conclude, based on their three cases studies and a larger study performed
earlier in China, that "thiamine may be a useful treatment for hepatitis B and,
potentially, for other viral syndromes".
They emphasize that thiamine therapy is safe, has no side effects, and is
inexpensive.
Wallace, Amy Elizabeth and William Brinson Weeks.
Thiamine treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection.
American Journal of Gastroenterology,
Vol. 96, March 2001, pp. 864-68
Dr. Amy Elizabeth Wallace decided to test thiamine for HBV after a
"very bright and aware patient" observed that his aminotransferase
levels rose and fell depending on whether he was taking the vitamin.
High levels of aminotransferase enzymes indicate more active infection
of the liver. In reviewing his chart, Wallace found a relationship--the
patient's aminotransferase levels fell when he took thiamine.
Wallace and her colleague, Dr. William Brinson Weeks, conducted a
trial in this patient and two others with HBV infection to investigate the
relationship.
All had either failed treatment with interferon or could not tolerate the
drug.
"While patients were on thiamine treatment, their aminotransferase
levels fell from abnormally high to normal levels; these levels increased
when thiamine was subsequently withdrawn," Wallace and Weeks write
in the March issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology.
And in subsequent liver biopsies after thiamine treatment, HBV DNA was
undetectable.
This is the first study to investigate thiamine for treating hepatitis
B infection.
There are several potential ways that the vitamin might fight the
infection, according to Wallace, an assistant professor of psychiatry
at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire.
For example, thiamine binds to iron and thus reduces the iron load in
the liver. Past studies have linked high iron levels in the liver to more
severe HBV infection, as well as a worse response to interferon.
"Thiamine is so cheap, way cheaper than any of the treatments that are
on the market," Wallace said. And, she noted, the vitamin has no side
effects.
However, more research is clearly needed to determine if thiamine
does indeed help patients with HBV, Dr. Raymond S. Koff, a professor
in the division of digestive diseases and nutrition at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, told Reuters Health.
"The very small number of patients studied is a major limitation of
this [study]," he said. "There is no information about thiamine levels
before, during or after treatment. A prospective, randomized controlled
trial in previously interferon-untreated patients or in nonresponders to
interferon therapy will be needed to determine the utility of thiamine in the
treatment of chronic hepatitis B."