HEPATIC CIRRHOSIS TREATED WITH METHIONINE

In January 1947 the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry reported on the status of methionine in the prevention and treatment of injury to the liver.¹ Certain chemical agents produced lesions in the liver of experimental animals closely resembling those seen in man in portal cirrhosis. Much experimental evidence is available indicating that injury of the liver may be produced by dietary deficiencies. Gyorgy and Goldblatt² found that necrosis or cirrhosis of the liver would develop in rats on a low protein diet and that the administration of choline would prevent the development of these conditions. Daft, Sebrell and Lillie³ confirmed this work and found also that some protection to the liver was afforded by the addition of choline, methionine and casein. In a later report⁴ Gyorgy and Goldblatt concluded that the cirrhosis produced in animals by a low protein diet could be prevented by a combination