Probiotics supplementation reduces high fat high sugar diet-associated oxidative stress at intestinal epithelial cells, nephrons and hepatocytes in rat model

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, characterized by abnormal fat accumulation in the liver that manifests many metabolic diseases, targets mainly the gut-liver axis and outcomes into non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, necrosis and fibrosis that ultimately lead towards cirrhosis. Probiotics, being "live microorganisms", strengthen the immune system (both innate and adaptive) and are used in the prevention and treatment of many metabolic diseases. The present study aimed to explore the protective effects of three important strains, commonly used as probiotics, i.e., Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacteria sp. and Streptococcus sp. against high fat high sugar diet-associated oxidative stress in conjunction with histopathological changes in intestinal epithelial cells, nephrons and hepatocytes in rat model. In this study, probiotics (2 x 106 colony forming units) therapeutic potential was evaluated on gut-liver and kidney axis using in-vivo rat models. At the end of the study, serum was separated from blood for biochemical analysis while tissue samples of liver, kidney and intestine were collected for histopathological analyses. The results of cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, urea and uric acid levels suggested ameliorative effects of probiotics in metabolic disease caused by high fat high sugar diet. Moreover, the entire antioxidant capacity was improved by probiotics administration as measured by serum total antioxidant capacity, total oxidant status, malondialdehyde, paraoxonase and arylesterase levels and by histopathological analysis of liver, gut and kidneys. These results suggest that the protective effects of probiotics supplementation might be mediated through gut microbiota modification. It was concluded that probiotics comprising these three strains are potential candidates for prevention or adjuvant treatment of metabolic diseases involving oxidative stress.