Effects of Lactobacillus taiwanensis Lt259 on hepatoprotection and intestinal flora in rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Objective To investigate the effects of Lactobacillus taiwanensis (Lt259) on the hepatoprotection and intestinal flora in rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Methods The safety of Lt259 was evaluated by hemolysis, gelatinase activity and antibiotic sensitivity tests. Its intestinal colonization ability was evaluated by hydrophobicity and self-aggregation tests. A NAFLD rat model was constructed by feeding high-fat chow, and after 8 weeks of intervention by gavage with Lt259 bacterial suspension, pathological changes in the liver of the rats were observed, and the lipid level, serum pro-inflammatory factors and endotoxin levels were detected. And the intestinal flora was detected by high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene.

Results Lt259 had no hemolytic and gelatinase activities, and was sensitive to all antibiotics tested, with hydrophobicity and self-aggregation results of 67.00%±5.77% and 63.33%±5.77%, respectively. Lt259 intervention mitigated the liver injury and improved liver function level in rats with NAFLD (P<0.01). It significantly lowered the concentrations of lipids, pro-inflammatory factors and endotoxin in NAFLD rats (P< 0.05), improved the intestinal flora composition of rats with NAFLD, reduced the relative abundance of Proteobacteria (P<0.05), increased the abundances of Tyzzerella, Blautia, Lachnoclostridium and Akkermansia and other probiotics, and reduced the abundances of Bilophila and other harmful genera.

Conclusion L. taiwanensis Lt259 has the efficacy to improve the pathological changes, lipid deposition, and inflammatory injury in the liver of rats with NAFLD, and the mechanism might be related to the reduction of intestinal flora disorders and the enhancement of probiotic abundance.