Modulation Of The Gut Microbiota By Gypenosides During The Treatment Of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver

Objectives:Gypenosides(GP)is a traditional Chinese medicine extracted from plants and commonly applied for treatment of metabolic diseases.This study aims to explore the effects of GP extracts on alleviating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD).Methods:In this experiment,C57BL/6J mice were assigned into normal diet control(ND),HFHC(High-fat and High-cholesterol)and HFHC-GP(GP)groups.Mice in HFHC group were fed HFHC diet combined with fructose drinking water for 12 weeks to induce the animal model of NAFLD,and then the fructose drinking water was replaced with ordinary drinking water for 6 weeks.In the GP group,mice were fed HFHC diet combined with fructose drinking water for 12 weeks,and then the fructose drinking water was replaced with GP-containing drinking water for 6 weeks.The experiment lasted 18 weeks,mouse body weight was measured weekly.After animal procedures,mouse liver,colon faeces and serum were collected.Results:First of all,NAFLD mice showed high body weight,more insulin resistance(IR)and impaired lipid metabolism with high levels of ALT,AST,TG in serum.Our study shown that GP reduced body weight,enhanced the sensitivity to insulin resistance and decreased serum levels of ALT,ASTand TG in NAFLD mice.In addition,GP treatment alleviated steatohepatitis,and downregulated acetyl-CoA carboxylase(ACC1),proliferator-activated receptor y(PPAR y),cluster of differentiation 36(CD36),apolipoprotein C3(APOC3)and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein(MTTP)in mice fed with HFHC diet.Furthermore,GP treatment markedly improved intestinal microbiota which reduced relative abundance ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes and the abundance of Verrucomicrobia,Akkermansia and fissicatena and increased the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and Alistipes in the NAFLD mice.Conclusions:Our research suggested that GP can reduce the expression of lipid metabolic factors and inhibit the NAFLD disease by regulating the intestinal microbiota.