Probiotics isolated from the fermented grains of Chinese baijiu alleviate alcohol-induced liver injury by regulating alcohol metabolism and the gut microbiota in mice

, can reduce the drunken rate and mortality of drinking mice, shorten the sobriety time, decrease the content of ethanol in serum, reduce the activity or content of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), triglyceride (TG) and malondialdehyde (MDA), increase the activity or content of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) and nitric oxide (NO), and also improve the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) of the liver. The LAB intervention basically reversed the changes in the mRNA levels of genes related to ethanol/drug metabolism (CYP2E1, ADH1 and ALDH2), antioxidant markers (SOD2 and CAT), cellular inflammation, apoptosis and proliferation (SIRT1, SMYD3 and BRD4) and lipid metabolism (SREBP1 and FASn). In addition, we have found that the regulatory effect of these probiotics may be related to the SMYD3/BRD4 pathway, which needs further detailed research. Besides, the probiotics increased the abundance of gut microbes, restored the imbalance of the intestinal flora caused by alcohol consumption, and regulated the changes in the intestinal short-chain fatty acid content caused by chronic alcohol consumption. These results suggested that these baijiu-derived probiotics can effectively prevent drunkenness and chronic alcoholic liver injury. It is of great significance to provide scientific basis for subsequent research and development of new anti-alcoholism health products based on probiotics and the intestinal microecological regulation mechanism.