title: Structural changes of gut microbiota in a rat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease model treated with a Chinese herbal formula.
abstract: Accumulating evidence indicates that disruption of the gut microbiota by a high-fat diet (HFD) may play a pivotal role in the progression of metabolic disorders such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this study, the structural changes of gut microbiota were analyzed in an HFD-induced NAFLD rat model during treatment with an ancient Chinese herbal formula (CHF) used in clinical practice -Qushi Huayu Fang. CHF treatment significantly reduced body weight, alleviated hepatic steatosis, and decreased the content of triglycerides and free fatty acids in the livers of the rats. Gut microbiota of treated and control rats were profiled with polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and bar-coded pyrosequencing of the V3 region of 16S rRNA genes. Both analyses indicated that the CHF-treated group harbored significantly different gut microbiota from that of model rats. Partial least squares discriminant analysis and taxonomy-based analysis were further employed to identify key phylotypes responding to HFD and CHF treatment. Most notably, the genera Escherichia/Shigella, containing opportunistic pathogens, were significantly enriched in HFD-fed rats compared to controls fed normal chow (P<0.05) but they decreased to control levels after CHF treatment. Collinsella, a genus with short chain fatty acid producers, was significantly elevated in CHF-treated rats compared to HFD-fed rats (P<0.05). The results revealed that the bacterial profiles of HFD-induced rats could be modulated by the CHF. Elucidation of these differences in microbiota composition provided a basis for further understanding the pharmacological mechanism of the CHF.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
authors: Xiaochen
authors: X
authors: Yin
authors: Jinghua
authors: J
authors: Peng
authors: Liping
authors: L
authors: Zhao
authors: Yunpeng
authors: Y
authors: Yu
authors: Xu
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: Ping
authors: P
authors: Liu
authors: Qin
authors: Q
authors: Feng
authors: Yiyang
authors: Y
authors: Hu
authors: Xiaoyan
authors: X
authors: Pang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D059305:Diet, High-Fat; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000188:drug therapy*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008297:Male; D054892:Metagenome / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S