Probiotic Supplementation Alleviates Corticosterone-Induced Fatty Liver Disease by Regulating Hepatic Lipogenesis and Increasing Gut Microbiota Diversity in Broilers
Emerging evidence indicates a close relationship between gut microbiota and fatty liver disease. It has been suggested that gut microbiota modulation with probiotics ameliorates fatty liver disease in rodents and humans, yet it remains unclear whether the same results will also be obtained in poultr...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Yuyan Feng Wenqing Mei Qu Chen Xiaojing Chen Yingdong Ni Mingming Lei Jie Liu |
| author_facet | Yuyan Feng Wenqing Mei Qu Chen Xiaojing Chen Yingdong Ni Mingming Lei Jie Liu |
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| description | Emerging evidence indicates a close relationship between gut microbiota and fatty liver disease. It has been suggested that gut microbiota modulation with probiotics ameliorates fatty liver disease in rodents and humans, yet it remains unclear whether the same results will also be obtained in poultry. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a mixture of probiotics supplemented after hatching can prevent CORT-induced fatty liver disease in broilers, and to determine how such effects, if any, are associated with hepatic de novo lipogenesis and gut microbiota composition. Ninety-six one-day-old green-legged chickens were divided into a control group (CON) and probiotic group (PB). At 28 days of age, fatty liver was induced in 16 broilers that were randomly selected from the CON or PB group. At the end of the experiment, broilers from four groups, (i) the control group (CON), (ii) corticosterone group (CORT), (iii) probiotic group (PB), and (iv) PB plus CORT group (CORT&PB), were slaughtered for sampling and analysis. The results showed that probiotic administration significantly prevented CORT-induced body weight loss (<i>p</i> < 0.05) but did not alleviate the weight loss of immune organs caused by CORT. Compared to CON, the broilers in the CORT group exhibited a significant increase in triglyceride (TG) levels in plasma and liver (<i>p</i> < 0.01), as well as severe hepatocytic steatosis and hepatocellular ballooning, which was accompanied by the upregulation of hepatic lipogenesis gene expression. However, probiotic supplementation markedly decreased the intrahepatic lipid accumulation and steatosis histological score, which was associated with the downregulation of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (<i>SREBP1</i>) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (<i>ACC</i>) mRNA (<i>p</i> < 0.05) and the expression of its protein (<i>p</i> = 0.06). The cecal microbiota composition was determined by 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that CORT treatment induced distinct gut microbiota alterations with a decrease in microbial diversity and an increase in <i>Proteobacteria</i> abundance (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In contrast, probiotic supplementation increased the beta diversity, the community richness, and the diversity index (<i>p</i> > 0.05), as well as the abundance of <i>Intestinimonas</i> (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Our results indicate that CORT treatment induced severe fatty liver disease and altered the gut microbiota composition in broilers. However, post-hatching probiotic supplementation had a beneficial effect on alleviating fatty liver disease by regulating lipogenic gene expression and increasing gut microbiota diversity and the abundance of beneficial bacteria. We demonstrate for the first time that the supplementation of probiotics to chicks had a beneficial effect on preventing fatty liver disease through regulating lipogenic gene expression and improving the gut microbial balance. Thus, our results indicate that probiotics are a potential nutritional agent for preventing fatty liver disease in chickens. |
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| spelling | doaj-art-bd36a86e70cd4f68b35fa2d9edb792902025-01-24T13:43:01ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072025-01-0113120010.3390/microorganisms13010200Probiotic Supplementation Alleviates Corticosterone-Induced Fatty Liver Disease by Regulating Hepatic Lipogenesis and Increasing Gut Microbiota Diversity in BroilersYuyan Feng0Wenqing Mei1Qu Chen2Xiaojing Chen3Yingdong Ni4Mingming Lei5Jie Liu6Institute of Animal Husbandry, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210094, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Physiologic and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210094, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Physiologic and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210094, ChinaInstitute of Animal Husbandry, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210094, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Physiologic and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210094, ChinaInstitute of Animal Husbandry, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210094, ChinaInstitute of Animal Husbandry, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210094, ChinaEmerging evidence indicates a close relationship between gut microbiota and fatty liver disease. It has been suggested that gut microbiota modulation with probiotics ameliorates fatty liver disease in rodents and humans, yet it remains unclear whether the same results will also be obtained in poultry. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a mixture of probiotics supplemented after hatching can prevent CORT-induced fatty liver disease in broilers, and to determine how such effects, if any, are associated with hepatic de novo lipogenesis and gut microbiota composition. Ninety-six one-day-old green-legged chickens were divided into a control group (CON) and probiotic group (PB). At 28 days of age, fatty liver was induced in 16 broilers that were randomly selected from the CON or PB group. At the end of the experiment, broilers from four groups, (i) the control group (CON), (ii) corticosterone group (CORT), (iii) probiotic group (PB), and (iv) PB plus CORT group (CORT&PB), were slaughtered for sampling and analysis. The results showed that probiotic administration significantly prevented CORT-induced body weight loss (<i>p</i> < 0.05) but did not alleviate the weight loss of immune organs caused by CORT. Compared to CON, the broilers in the CORT group exhibited a significant increase in triglyceride (TG) levels in plasma and liver (<i>p</i> < 0.01), as well as severe hepatocytic steatosis and hepatocellular ballooning, which was accompanied by the upregulation of hepatic lipogenesis gene expression. However, probiotic supplementation markedly decreased the intrahepatic lipid accumulation and steatosis histological score, which was associated with the downregulation of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (<i>SREBP1</i>) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (<i>ACC</i>) mRNA (<i>p</i> < 0.05) and the expression of its protein (<i>p</i> = 0.06). The cecal microbiota composition was determined by 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that CORT treatment induced distinct gut microbiota alterations with a decrease in microbial diversity and an increase in <i>Proteobacteria</i> abundance (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In contrast, probiotic supplementation increased the beta diversity, the community richness, and the diversity index (<i>p</i> > 0.05), as well as the abundance of <i>Intestinimonas</i> (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Our results indicate that CORT treatment induced severe fatty liver disease and altered the gut microbiota composition in broilers. However, post-hatching probiotic supplementation had a beneficial effect on alleviating fatty liver disease by regulating lipogenic gene expression and increasing gut microbiota diversity and the abundance of beneficial bacteria. We demonstrate for the first time that the supplementation of probiotics to chicks had a beneficial effect on preventing fatty liver disease through regulating lipogenic gene expression and improving the gut microbial balance. Thus, our results indicate that probiotics are a potential nutritional agent for preventing fatty liver disease in chickens.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/1/200fatty liver diseasecorticosteroneprobioticgut microbiotabroiler |
| spellingShingle | Yuyan Feng Wenqing Mei Qu Chen Xiaojing Chen Yingdong Ni Mingming Lei Jie Liu Probiotic Supplementation Alleviates Corticosterone-Induced Fatty Liver Disease by Regulating Hepatic Lipogenesis and Increasing Gut Microbiota Diversity in Broilers Microorganisms fatty liver disease corticosterone probiotic gut microbiota broiler |
| title | Probiotic Supplementation Alleviates Corticosterone-Induced Fatty Liver Disease by Regulating Hepatic Lipogenesis and Increasing Gut Microbiota Diversity in Broilers |
| title_full | Probiotic Supplementation Alleviates Corticosterone-Induced Fatty Liver Disease by Regulating Hepatic Lipogenesis and Increasing Gut Microbiota Diversity in Broilers |
| title_fullStr | Probiotic Supplementation Alleviates Corticosterone-Induced Fatty Liver Disease by Regulating Hepatic Lipogenesis and Increasing Gut Microbiota Diversity in Broilers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Probiotic Supplementation Alleviates Corticosterone-Induced Fatty Liver Disease by Regulating Hepatic Lipogenesis and Increasing Gut Microbiota Diversity in Broilers |
| title_short | Probiotic Supplementation Alleviates Corticosterone-Induced Fatty Liver Disease by Regulating Hepatic Lipogenesis and Increasing Gut Microbiota Diversity in Broilers |
| title_sort | probiotic supplementation alleviates corticosterone induced fatty liver disease by regulating hepatic lipogenesis and increasing gut microbiota diversity in broilers |
| topic | fatty liver disease corticosterone probiotic gut microbiota broiler |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/1/200 |
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