Intermittent fasting and probiotics in non-alcoholic fatty liver in rats: interplay between FGF19 and FGF21

Abstract

ABSTRACT Probiotics (PR) and intermittent fasting (IF) are believed to alleviate dysbiosis, which contributes to Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) pathogenesis. Our study investigated the effect of PR, IF, and their combination (IP) on fatty liver in a rat model induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) We used 40 male rats, which were randomly assigned to one of five groups: control (fed standard chow), HFD (fed HFD for 12 weeks), PR (HFD for 12 weeks + probiotics (a daily dose of 10 × 109 CFU orally in the last 4 weeks), IF (HFD for 12 weeks + alternate day fasting (ADF) in the last 4 weeks), and IP (HFD for 12 weeks + probiotics (a daily dose of 10 × 109 CFU orally) + ADF in the last 4 weeks). Serum liver enzymes, lipids, and the HOMA-IR score were considerably lower in the IF and IP groups than in the HFD group. These changes were reflected in the pathological view. PR, IF, and IP noticeably upregulated serum FGF19, serum and hepatic FGF21, and reduced Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and flavin containing dimethylaniline monoxygenase 3 (FMO3), indicating improvement in gut dysbiosis suggestive a hepatoprotective impact of IF and PR on NAFLD via modulating.