The aim of this study was to understand the changes in nutrient composition and differences in metabolites in Apostichopus japonicus fermented by Bacillus natto and their function in alleviating acute alcohol intoxication (AAI) through in vivo studies. The results showed no significant difference between the basic components of sea cucumber (SC) and fermented sea cucumber (FSC). The SC proteins were degraded after fermentation, and the amino acid content in FSC was significantly increased. The differentially abundant metabolites of SC and FSC were identified by LC-MS/MS. The contents of amino acid metabolites increased after fermentation, and arachidonic acid metabolism was promoted. The results demonstrated that FSC alleviated AAI by improving the activities of alcohol-metabolizing enzymes and antioxidant enzymes in the liver but did not alleviate the accumulation of triglycerides. Our results will provide beneficial information for the development and application of new products from FSC.
Keywords: Apostichopus japonicus; Bacillus natto; acute alcohol intoxication; fermentation; metabolome.