Abstract
Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a mycotoxin found in food and feed, is immunotoxic to animals and poses significant threat to the food industry and animal production. The primary target of AFB1 is the liver. To overcome aflatoxin toxicity, probiotic-mediated detoxification has been proposed. In the present study, to investigate the protective effects and molecular mechanisms of Lactobacillus bulgaricus or Lactobacillus rhamnosus against liver inflammatory responses to AFB1, mice were administered with AFB1 (300 μg/kg) and/or Lactobacillus intragastrically for 8 weeks. AML12 cells were cultured and treated with AFB1, BAY 11-7082 (an NF-κB inhibitor), and different concentrations of L. bulgaricus or L. rhamnosus. The body weight, liver index, histopathological changes, biochemical indices, cytokines, cytotoxicity, and activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway were measured. AFB1 exposure caused changes in liver histopathology and biochemical functions, altered inflammatory response, and activated the NF-κB pathway. Supplementation of L. bulgaricus or L. rhamnosus significantly prevented AFB1-induced liver injury and alleviated histopathological changes and inflammatory response by decreasing NF-κB p65 expression. The results of in vitro experiments revealed that L. rhamnosus evidently protected against AFB1-induced inflammatory response and decreased NF-κB p65 expression when compared with L. bulgaricus. These findings indicated that AFB1 exposure can cause inflammatory response by inducing hepatic injury, and supplementation of L. bulgaricus or L. rhamnosus can produce significant protective effect against AFB1-induced liver damage and inflammatory response by regulating the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway.
Highlights
Aflatoxins (AFs) are secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus spp., mainly Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus [1]
There was no difference in the body weight of mice among the five groups on days 7, 28, 42, 49, and 56 (p > 0.05), the beneficial effects of L. bulgaricus on growth was better than those of L. rhamnosus
aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) + Lactobacillus treatment groups exhibited similar significantly alleviated pathological changes, congestion spaces and inflammatory cell infiltration were still noted, especially in Group A + L2 (Figure 1d,e). These results showed that the effects of AFB1 on hepatic histological damage could be mitigated by addition of L. bulgaricus or L. rhamnosus
Summary
Aflatoxins (AFs) are secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus spp., mainly Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus [1]. Among the AFs, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1 ) is the most toxic AF known so far, and has been regarded as a class I carcinogen by WHO since 1993 [2]. It has been reported that the toxicity of AFB1 corresponds to 10 times that of potassium cyanide and 68 times that of arsenic [3]. More than 20 kinds of AFs have been identified, including AFB1 , B2 , G1 , and G2 , of which AFB1 is the most widely studied [4]. In China, AF contamination generally refers to AFB1 contamination. AFB1 causes significant damage and loss, and is gaining increasing attention because of its toxicity, carcinogenicity, and universality [5,6]
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