Effects of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum Superfine Powder on Intestinal Microflora in Rats with Alcohol-Induced Liver Injury

Objective: To investigate and reveal protective mechanism which the Tetrastigma hemsleyanum (SYQ) ultramicro powder alleviate alcohol-induced liver injury, and to provide a new research idea for clinical treatment of alcohol-induced liver injury. Methods: The rat model of alcoholic liver injury was established by continuous administration of alcohol for 8 weeks. At the same time, rats were given different doses SYQ ultramicro powder by intragastric to observe its protective effect on liver injury. Changes of ALT, AST, ALP and GSH, SOD, MDA were detected in serum and liver tissue, respectively. Pathological sections of liver tissue were used to observe the damage. Genomic DNA was extracted from feces and analyzed by 16S rDNA full-length sequencing. Results: Compared with the model group, medium and high doses of SYQ (0.5 and 1.0 g·kg⁻¹) significantly (P<0.05) reduced the levels of ALT, AST ALP and MDA, increased the activities of SOD and GSH, and alleviated the liver lesions in rats. The pathological sections revealed that SYQ ultramicro powder dramatically alleviated liver cells swelling and steatosis, and these effectiveness were similar to the group of bifendate. Intestinal microflora analysis showed that the intestinal microflora structure significantly changed in rats with alcoholic liver injury. Compared with the model group, both SYQ and bifendate intervention improved the intestinal flora to a certain extent at phylum, genus and species level. SYQ effectively recovered the abundance of Prevotella, Lactobacillus_johnsonii, Raoultibacter_massiliensis altered by alcohol, and the effect of medium doses of SYQ was better than positive control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The SYQ superfine powder had a significant protective effect on alcoholic-induced liver injury in rats, the mechanism may be related to its antioxidant stress and intestinal flora regulation.