Pediococcus acidilactici FZU106-fermented Laminaria japonica alleviates high-fat diet-induced NAFLD rats by modulating the gut microbiota and lipid metabolism

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the hypolipidemic mechanism of Pediococcus acidilactici FZU106-fermented Laminaria japonica (FLJ) and evaluate its therapeutic potential against high-fat diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in rats. Our results demonstrated that the FLJ intervention significantly ameliorated NAFLD's progression through dual regulatory mechanisms. First, the intervention with FLJ significantly reduced body weight gain (−23.57%), perirenal fat and epididymal fat indexes (−40.16% and −34.64%, respectively), and serum and liver lipid levels, suggesting decreased hepatic fat accumulation (−39.96%) in NAFLD rats. Further mechanistic analysis demonstrated that FLJ modulated lipid metabolism-related pathways by down-regulating the expression of key genes involved in cholesterol synthesis (HMGCR) and fatty acid uptake (CD36), while upregulating the expression of bile acid conversion enzymes (CYP7A1). Second, FLJ reshaped the gut microbiota's composition by enriching the abundance of beneficial bacteria, including Akkermansia, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, and Pediococcus, which were positively correlated with the short-chain fatty acid level (butyrate) and negatively correlated with lipid parameters in the serum and liver (total cholesterol and triglycerides). These bacteria exhibited a strong correlation with the bile secretion pathway, as revealed by functional metagenomic profiling through phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) analysis. These findings suggested that FLJ attenuated NAFLD through coordination of the gut–liver axis, positioning it as a promising dietary intervention for metabolic liver disorders.

Keywords

Pediococcus acidilactici / Laminaria japonica / Lipid metabolism / Gut microbiota / Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

References

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