Protective Effects of Selenium-Enriched Probiotics on Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Liver Fibrosis in Rats

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Se-enriched probiotics (SP) on the liver fibrosis induced by CCl4 in rats. The results showed that SP significantly decreased serum alanine aminotransferase (87.0 ± 1.96 U/L), aspartate aminotransferase (101 ± 3.13 U/L), hepatic hydroxyproline (898 ± 72.5 μg/g), and malondialdehyde (2.39 ± 0.34 nmol/mg) levels, but increased glutathione peroxidase (37.2 ± 3.19 U/mg), superoxide dismutase (201 ± 19.2 U/mg), and glutathione levels (3.32 ± 0.25 mg/g) (P < 0.05) in rats treated by CCl4. SP suppressed hepatic inflammation and necrosis induced by CCl4. Moreover, SP significantly reduced the expression of α-smooth muscle actin, collagen, TGF-β1, TIMP-1, and inflammation-related gene and induced apoptosis of activated hepatic stellate cells (P < 0.05) in rats treated by CCl4. Our results suggest that SP could protect the liver from fibrosis by attenuating hepatic oxidative stress, suppressing hepatic inflammation, and inducing apoptosis of hepatic stellate cells.

Association between Serum Selenium Concentrations and Levels of Proinflammatory and Profibrotic Cytokines—Interleukin-6 and Growth Differentiation Factor-15, in Patients with Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis

“…In a rat model, the administration of probiotics containing selenium was demonstrated to inhibit liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride, which, according to the authors, was likely to be associated with reduced oxidative stress, inflammation and stellate cells apoptosis [16,17]. Furthermore, a hepatoprotective impact of selenium on toxic thioacetamide-induced liver injury was reported in a rat model [18].…”

Selenium – a fascinating antioxidant of protective properties

“…2 The most important of them are the antioxidant enzymes -glutathione peroxidase and thioredoxin reductase, as well as selenoprotein P, responsible for the storage and transport of selenium. [3][4][5][6] Selenium supplementation has been proved to be protective against a very wide range of harmful factors, both chemical, such as drugs exerting severe side effects, heavy metals, carcinogens, mycotoxins, or pesticides, and physical, such as heat stress or magnetic fields. However, the narrow range between therapeutic and toxic doses of selenium, as well as the dependence of its effect on the applied form, dose and method of treatment, make the choice of the most effective supplement a very complex issue.…”

“…11,13 As the interest in selenium and its effects on human health is still growing, diverse compounds of selenium are still being studied, both inorganic and organic, Se-enriched natural products like probiotics, yeast and green tea, as well as selenium nanoparticles. 3,8,10,[14][15][16][17][18] Organic compounds have been widely studied recently due to the similarity of the activity of some of them (e.g., ebselen or diphenyl diselenide) to that shown by glutathione peroxidase. 19 Diphenyl diselenide has also been proved to possess many beneficial pharmacological properties: anti-hyperglycemic, anti-hyperlipidemic, hepatoprotective, antiulcer, and antidepressant.…”

Hepatoprotective effects of dual-coated and uncoated mixture of probiotics in rats

“…These results are similar with other reports on the effect of other probiotics against CCl 4 -induced hepatotoxicity. [3,15,17,18] Biochemical analysis SGOT and SGPT are important hepatic metabolic enzymes that indicate liver damage by xenobiotics or other causes; these enzymes are released from the liver into the blood serum when liver damage occurs. Therefore, the activities of SGOT and SGPT are considered to reflect the degree of liver damage.…”