Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology of Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China.
Food Funct. 2021 Jun 21;12(12):5576-5590. doi: 10.1039/d0fo03028g. Epub 2021 May 19.
Ethanol (EtOH) is the main risk factor for alcoholic liver disease. However, fermented alcoholic beverages contain not only ethanol but also various volatile compounds. Currently, the effects of volatile compounds in ethanol-containing fermented beverages on gut microbiota and host metabolism are largely unclear. To fill this gap, we constructed an 8-week mice model using three types of Baijiu (a traditional fermented alcoholic beverage), sterile water and ethanol as controls. Results revealed that three types of Baijiu contain various volatiles, mainly belonging to esters, alcohols, and acids. All of Baijiu caused the lower levels of liver injury in mice than EtOH (at the same EtOH concentration) by phenotypic, biochemical and pathological analysis. We observed that Baijiu volatiles affect the gut microbiota structure and serum metabolomic patterns of mice. Compared with EtOH, Baijiu feeding profoundly increased the relative abundance of Lactobacillus (the highest relative abundance in the Baijiu-fed group was 11.16 ± 1.52%, and in the EtOH-fed group it was 1.80 ± 0.66%). Esters, acids and phenols in volatiles showed strong positive correlations (P < 0.01, R > 0.6) with Lactobacillus. Moreover, Baijiu feeding significantly (P < 0.05) enriched serum metabolites related to bioenergy (i.e., D-glucose, the highest fold change was 1.16) and anti-inflammatory activity (i.e., arachidonic acid, the highest fold change was 1.43) as compared to EtOH. Finally, the microbial and metabolic function analysis showed that volatiles will enhance the citrate cycle and biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acid pathways. Overall, these data demonstrated the potential of volatile compounds for attenuating the progress of alcoholic liver disease by regulating the gut microbiota and host metabolism.
乙醇（EtOH）是酒精性肝病的主要风险因素。然而，发酵酒精饮料不仅含有乙醇，还含有各种挥发性化合物。目前，含乙醇发酵饮料中的挥发性化合物对肠道微生物群和宿主代谢的影响在很大程度上尚不清楚。为了填补这一空白，我们使用三种白酒（一种传统发酵酒精饮料）、无菌水和乙醇作为对照，构建了一个为期 8 周的小鼠模型。结果表明，三种白酒都含有各种挥发性化合物，主要属于酯类、醇类和酸类。通过表型、生化和病理分析，所有白酒都使小鼠的肝损伤水平低于乙醇（相同乙醇浓度下）。我们观察到白酒挥发物会影响小鼠的肠道微生物群结构和血清代谢组图谱。与乙醇相比，白酒喂养显著增加了乳杆菌的相对丰度（白酒喂养组的相对丰度最高为 11.16±1.52%，而乙醇喂养组为 1.80±0.66%）。挥发物中的酯类、酸类和酚类与乳杆菌呈强烈正相关（P<0.01，R>0.6）。此外，与乙醇相比，白酒喂养显著（P<0.05）富集了与生物能量（即 D-葡萄糖，最高倍数变化为 1.16）和抗炎活性（即花生四烯酸，最高倍数变化为 1.43）相关的血清代谢物。最后，微生物和代谢功能分析表明，挥发物会增强柠檬酸循环和不饱和脂肪酸生物合成途径。总的来说，这些数据表明，挥发性化合物通过调节肠道微生物群和宿主代谢，有可能减轻酒精性肝病的进展。
