title: Effect of Lactobacillus plantarum and L-arginine against endotoxin-induced liver injury in a rat model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Use of probiotics, alone or as adjunct to other established therapies, has been reported to have potential benefits. Recently, we have reported protective potential of probiotic against Salmonella-induced liver injury. However, co-supplementation with prebiotics did not result in meaningful synergism at systemic level. Owing to the action of probiotics at the mucosal level and of arginine at systemic level, the present study was designed to evaluate the effect of Lactobacillus plantarum alone or in conjunction with arginine to combat endotoxin-mediated liver injury in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Bacterial endotoxin/lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was injected intraperitoneally and animals were sacrificed 8h post-challenge. Efficacy of L. plantarum alone or in conjunction with l-arginine was determined on the basis of enzyme markers, histology, levels of nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in addition to identification of amino acids by paper chromatography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prior supplementation of LPS-challenged rats with L. plantarum (10(10)CFU per rat given orally for 10 days) demonstrated decreased levels of liver enzymes, NO and TNF-α. Interestingly, complementing Lactobacillus with arginine revealed a synergistic decrease not only in the liver markers but also in NO and TNF-α along with increased intensity of ornithine and methionine. Histological evidence also confirmed the protective efficacy of probiotic in conjunction with l-arginine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Presence of ornithine and methionine in the probiotic-arginine co-supplemented group suggests involvement of arginase-induced synthesis of polyamines. This study highlights that L. plantarum may direct l-arginine metabolism towards polyamine synthesis thereby exhibiting synergistic effect against liver injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Panjab University, Chandigarh-160014, India. rishipraveen@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Praveen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rishi
authors.forename: Sushma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bharrhan
authors.forename: Gurdeep
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Indu Pal
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Kaur
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007728:Kupffer Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D048191:Lactiplantibacillus plantarum; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D019936:Probiotics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D001120:Arginine; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase