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Effects of oral Lactobacillus plantarum on hepatocyte tight junction structure and function in rats with obstructive jaundice

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Abstract

Surgery and infection are prominent risk factors for the development of obstructive cholestasis which in turn is associated with failure of the liver barrier. We studied the effects of oral Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) supplementation on endotoxemia, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and tight junctions of hepatocytes in an experimental model of obstructive jaundice. Fifty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups of 10 each: group I, sham-operated; group II, ligation and division of the common bile duct (BDL); group III, BLD followed by oral LP treatment; group IV, BDL followed by internal biliary drainage (IBD); group V, BDL followed by IBD and oral LP treatment. Hepatocyte apoptosis, plasma reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) levels, and portal blood endotoxin levels were measured and changes in tight junction-associated proteins occludin, claudin-1, claudin-4, and ZO-1 were observed. Compared to the sham-operated group I, significant increases in endotoxemia, apoptosis, and GSSG were observed in group II and significant decreases were observed in group V. Tight junctions were destroyed in group II animals but were not in animals treated with oral LP (groups III and V). An increase in occludin, claudin-1, claudin-4, and ZO-1 mRNA and protein levels were detected in livers in LP-treated animals (group V) compared with group II levels. Oral LP treatment of rats with obstructive jaundice assisted in the return of active hepatic barrier function. These results may lead to treatments to prevent the deleterious effects of obstructive jaundice.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to express our deep and sincere gratitude to the Professor M. Michael Wolf (Boston University School of Medicine, USA) for his advice about this manuscript. This work was financially supported by the Grants from National Key Basic Research Program (No. 2008CB517400).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, The Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University, 600 Yishan Road, 200233, Shanghai, China

    Ming Zhang, Yu-Kun Zhou, Yan-Lei Ma, Tong-Yi Shen, Hong-Qi Chen, Zhao-Xin Chu & Huan-Long Qin

  2. Department of Cardiovascular Internal Medicine, Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541004, China

    Xiao-Qiong Wang

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  1. Ming Zhang
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Correspondence to Huan-Long Qin.

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Zhang, M., Wang, XQ., Zhou, YK. et al. Effects of oral Lactobacillus plantarum on hepatocyte tight junction structure and function in rats with obstructive jaundice. Mol Biol Rep 37, 2989–2999 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9866-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9866-y

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