OBJECTIVE

2

To study the effects of Ganbao capsules on intestinal mucosal barrier and gut microbiota in rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease （NAFLD）， and to explore its mechanism of prevention and treatment of NAFLD.

METHODS

2

Eight of 26 SD rats were randomly selected as blank group and fed with ordinary diet， and the remaining 18 rats were fed with high diet to establish NAFLD model （2 for modeling inspection）； after successful modeling， they were divided into model group and Ganbao group， with 8 rats in each group. Ganbao group were given Ganbao capsules solution （1 440 mg/kg） intragastrically， and the blank group and model group were given the constant volume of distilled water intragastrically， once a day， for consecutive 5 weeks. The contents of alanine aminotransferase （ALT）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST） and triglyceride （TG） in serum of rats were detected by automatic analyzer； the contents of lipopolysaccharide， tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， interleukin-6 （IL-6） and IL-1β in serum of rats were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The pathological morphology of liver and ileum tissues were observed by HE staining， the expressions of Occludin and zonula occludens-1 （ZO-1） were detected by immunohistochemistry method， and the intestinal flora were detected by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing technology.

RESULTS

2

Compared with the model group， the serum contents of ALT， AST， TG， lipopolysaccharide， TNF-α， IL-6 and IL-1β in Ganbao group were decreased significantly （

P

＜0.01）， the pathological changes of liver and ileum tissues were improved significantly， and the expressions of Occludin and ZO-1 were increased significantly （

P

＜0.01）. Intestinal microbiota analysis revealed that compared with the model group， Ganbao capsules could recover the abundance and diversity of the gut microbiota in rats. At the phylum level， Ganbao capsules could significantly increase the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes， and significantly reduce the relative abundance of Firmicutes and the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes （

P

＜0.01）. At the genus level， Ganbao capsules could significantly increase the relative abundance of

Lactobacillus

，

Blautia

，

Bacteroides

and

Akkermansia

， and significantly reduce the relative abundance of

Prevotella

，

Turicibacter

，

Weissella

，

SMB53

and

Desulfovibrio

（

P

＜0.05 or

P

＜0.01）. There were different species among the gut microbiota of rats in each group.

CONCLUSIONS

2

Ganbao capsules may improve NAFLD by protecting intestinal mucosal barrier function and regulating gut probiotics/harmful bacteria structure.