Excessive drinking can significantly damage people's health and well-being. Although some lactic acid bacterial strains have been previously shown to alleviate the symptoms of alcohol injury, the mechanism underlying these effects remains unclear. The aim of this study was to establish an alcohol injury model and examine the protective effect and mechanism of B. animalis A12 and L. salivarius M18-6. The results showed that A12 freeze-dried powder could maintain the survival rate of mice with alcohol injury at 100%. Compared with Alco group, L. salivarius M18-6 dead cell improved the survival rate of mice, attenuated liver steatosis, and significantly down-regulated serum Alanine transaminase (ALT) level; at the same time, it activated keap1-Nrf2 signaling pathway and up-regulated Superoxide dismutase (SOD), it protects mouse liver cells from oxidative stress induced by alcohol injury. In addition, B. animalis A12 can reduce the stress response to short-term alcohol intake and improve the ability of anti-oxidative stress by upregulating the level of isobutyric acid, reducing the level of keap1 protein in the liver of mice and upregulating the expression of thioredoxin genes (Txnrd1, Txnrd3, Txn1). Taken together, the results showed that B. animalis A12 and L. salivarius M18-6 alleviate alcohol injury in mice through keap1-Nrf2 signaling pathway and thioredoxin system.
Keywords: Bifidobacterium animalis; Lactobacillus salivarius; alcohol injury; gene expression; oxidative stress.