The study aimed to investigate the ameliorative effect of salidroside (SAL) on the crosstalk among liver metabonomics, gut barrier function and bile acids in furan-induced mice. Forty male mice were randomly divided into the following five groups: CON, FUR 8 (8 mg/kg/day furan), SAL 10 (8 mg/kg/day furan+10 mg/kg/day SAL), SAL 20 (8 mg/kg/day furan+20 mg/kg/day SAL), and SAL 40 (8 mg/kg/day+40 mg/kg/day SAL). Mice were administered with furan for 30 days and SAL was administered for 15 days from day 16. Principal components analysis (PCA) and heatmap were employed to probe metabonomics profile alterations in liver tissues and select thirty-eight potential biomarkers. Pathway analysis revealed primary bile acids were largely changed in the biosynthesis pathway. Moreover, SAL regulated the activation of farnesoid X receptor (FXR), downregulating hepatic heterodimer partner (SHP), upregulating cholesterol 7a-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) as well as decreasing the expression of portal fibroblast growth factor 15 (FGF15), compared to the furan-treated group. Importantly, SAL dramatically increased the level of tight junction proteins, as immunohistochemistry results show. In conclusion, the ameliorative effects of SAL on liver damage induced by furan might be due to altered gut barrier function, while FXR signaling acted a significant role in the function of SAL.
Keywords: FXR signaling; Furan; Gut barrier function; Liver metabonomics; Salidroside.
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