Partially hydrolyzed guar gum suppresses binge alcohol-induced liver fat accumulation via gut environment modulation in mice

So Morishima; Aya Abe; Saki Okamoto; Mahendra P Kapoor; Masahide Osumi; Machi Oda; Tsutomu Okubo; Makoto Ozeki; Masahiro Nishio; Ryo Inoue

doi:10.1111/jgh.16737

Partially hydrolyzed guar gum suppresses binge alcohol-induced liver fat accumulation via gut environment modulation in mice

J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2024 Sep 23. doi: 10.1111/jgh.16737. Online ahead of print.

Authors

So Morishima^{1

2}, Aya Abe², Saki Okamoto², Mahendra P Kapoor², Masahide Osumi³, Machi Oda⁴, Tsutomu Okubo⁵, Makoto Ozeki^{1

2}, Masahiro Nishio³, Ryo Inoue⁴

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Food Function, Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Tsu, Mie, Japan.
² Nutrition Division, Taiyo Kagaku Co. Ltd, Yokkaichi, Mie, Japan.
³ Laboratory of Nutritional Chemistry, Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Tsu, Mie, Japan.
⁴ Laboratory of Animal Science, Department of Applied Biological Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Setsunan University, Hirakata, Osaka, Japan.
⁵ Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Tsu, Mie, Japan.

PMID: 39313361
DOI: 10.1111/jgh.16737

Abstract

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), including alcoholic fatty liver, is a serious problem in many countries, and its economic costs to society are enormous. There is evidence indicating the relations between gut environments and liver disease, and thus, improvement of gut environment is expected to be an effective approach for ALD prevention. In this study, we explored the preventive effect of partially hydrolyzed guar gum (PHGG) on ALD focusing on the gut-liver axis. Two weeks of PHGG pre-feeding suppressed the liver fat accumulation in the experimental binge alcohol model mouse. In cecal microbiome, PHGG pre-feeding increased beneficial Bifidobacterium with its metabolite acetate concentration and suppressed the alcohol-induced increase in the potential pathobiont Streptococcus. PHGG pre-feeding increased colonic gene expression of angiogenin genes, which act as antimicrobial peptides and decreased expression of genes for mast cell protease, which suggests a potential involvement in leaky gut. Correlation network analysis based on evaluated parameters revealed four relations worth noticing. (i) The abundance of Bifidobacterium positively correlated with cecal acetate. (ii) Cecal acetate negatively correlated with Streptococcus via colonic angiogenin expression. (iii) Streptococcus positively correlated with liver fat area. (iv) Cecal acetate had direct negative correlation with liver fat area. Considering these relations comprehensively, acetate produced by Bifidobacterium may be a key mediator in ALD prevention; it inhibited growth of potential pathobiont Streptococcus and also directly regulated liver lipid metabolism reaching through portal vein. This study demonstrated that regularly intake of PHGG may be effective in reducing the risk of alcoholic fatty liver via gut-liver axis.

Keywords: Bifidobacterium; Streptococcus; alcoholic fatty liver; partially hydrolyzed guar gum; short‐chain fatty acid.

Grants and funding

Taiyo Kagaku Co., Ltd.