BACKGROUND
Intestinal dysbiosis has been shown to be associated with the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD), which includes changes in the microbiota composition and bacterial overgrowth, but an effective microbe-based therapy is lacking.
Pediococcus pentosaceus
(
P. pentosaceus
) CGMCC 7049 is a newly isolated strain of probiotic that has been shown to be resistant to ethanol and bile salts. However, further studies are needed to determine whether
P. pentosaceus
exerts a protective effect on ALD and to elucidate the potential mechanism.
AIM
To evaluate the protective effect of the probiotic
P. pentosaceus
on ethanol-induced liver injury in mice.
METHODS
A new ethanol-resistant strain of
P. pentosaceus
CGMCC 7049 was isolated from healthy adults in our laboratory. The chronic plus binge model of experimental ALD was established to evaluate the protective effects. Twenty-eight C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups: The control group received a pair-fed control diet and oral gavage with sterile phosphate buffered saline, the EtOH group received a ten-day Lieber-DeCarli diet containing 5% ethanol and oral gavage with phosphate buffered saline, and the
P. pentosaceus
group received a 5% ethanol Lieber-DeCarli diet but was treated with
P. pentosaceus
. One dose of isocaloric maltose dextrin or ethanol was administered by oral gavage on day 11, and the mice were sacrificed nine hours later. Blood and tissue samples (liver and gut) were harvested to evaluate gut barrier function and liver injury-related parameters. Fresh cecal contents were collected, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to measure short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations, and the microbiota composition was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.
RESULTS
The
P. pentosaceus
treatment improved ethanol-induced liver injury, with lower alanine aminotransferase, aspartate transaminase and triglyceride levels and decreased neutrophil infiltration. These changes were accompanied by decreased levels of endotoxin and inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-5, tumor necrosis factor-α, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, keratinocyte-derived protein chemokine, macrophage inflammatory protein-1α and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. Ethanol feeding resulted in intestinal dysbiosis and gut barrier disruption, increased relative abundance of potentially pathogenic
Escherichia
and
Staphylococcus
, and the depletion of SCFA-producing bacteria, such as
Prevotella, Faecalibacterium
, and
Clostridium
. In contrast,
P. pentosaceus
administration increased the microbial divers...