Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the beneficial effects of probiotic yogurt on lipid metabolism and gut microbiota in metabolic-related fatty liver disease (MAFLD) golden hamsters fed on a high-fat diet (HFD). The results demonstrated that probiotic yogurt significantly reversed the adverse effects caused by HFD, such as body and liver weight gain, liver steatosis and damage, sterol deposition, and oxidative stress after 8 weeks of intervention. qRT-PCR analysis showed that golden hamsters fed HFD had upregulated genes related to adipogenesis, increased free fatty acid infiltration, and downregulated genes related to lipolysis and very low-density lipoprotein secretion. Probiotic yogurt supplements significantly inhibited HFD-induced changes in the expression of lipid metabolism-related genes. Furthermore, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the intestinal content microbiota suggested that probiotic yogurt changed the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota in HFD-fed hamsters. Probiotic yogurt decreased the ratio of the phyla Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes, the relative abundance of the LPS-producing genus Desulfovibrio, and bacteria involved in lipid metabolism, whereas it increased the relative abundance of short-chain fatty acids producing bacteria in HFD-fed hamsters. Predictive functional analysis of the microbial community showed that probiotic yogurt-modified genes involved in LPS biosynthesis and lipid metabolism. In summary, these findings support the possibility that probiotic yogurt significantly improves HFD-induced metabolic disorders through modulating intestinal microflora and lipid metabolism and effectively regulating the occurrence and development of MAFLD. Therefore, probiotic yogurt supplementation may serve as an effective nutrition strategy for the treatment of patients with MAFLD clinically.